PEMULIH Recovery Plan: Part 1 – For The Rakyat
Aid that directly benefits the people.
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Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Md Yasin on 28 June announced the RM150 billion Rakyat Protection and Economic Recovery Package (PEMULIH) as Malaysia continues to remain in lockdown under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan.
READ MORE: There Are 4 Phases Planned For The Country To Recover From Covid-19
The total value of the PEMULIH package is RM 150 billion and includes the government’s direct fiscal injection of RM10 billion.
PEMULIH has three main focuses: continuing the People’s Concern Agenda (Agenda Prihatin Rakyat), supporting businesses, and improving vaccination rates.
Continuing the Agenda Prihatin Rakyat
Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat or BPR.
The government has agreed to pay in addition to the BPR, up to RM500, in July and the payment will be made in stages starting tomorrow (29 June).
The third phase of the BPR will include assistance ranging from RM 100 to RM 1,400 and will be paid in September.
September will also involve payment for BPR appeal cases.
Covid-19 Special Assistance
Households in the hardcore poor category will receive the assistance of RM500 in August, RM500 in November, and RM300 in December, while single individuals in the hardcore poor category will receive assistance as much as RM200 in August and RM300 in November.
B40 households will receive as much as RM500 in August and RM300 in December, while singles in the B40 category will receive the assistance of RM200 in August.
M40 households will receive RM250 and singles in the M40 category will receive RM100 in August.
Income Loss Assistance
In October, as much as RM500 will be channeled to workers who lost their income based on EPF or SOCSO data in 2021.
The Government will also expand the Job Seeker Allowance to non-SOCSO contributors especially new graduates, school leavers, and informal sector workers. They can register at the MYFutureJobs platform and will receive an allowance of at least RM300.
The government will allocate RM125 million through HRD Corp. to implement the Place and Train initiative under the Janapreneur program especially for school leavers and graduates.
MDEC will also improve the existing programs, namely eRezeki and GLOW, in order to help over 20,000 job seekers in the gig economy.
Food basket assistance programme
The government will allocate RM300,000 to each Member of Parliament to implement a Food Basket Assistance program to help affected groups in their respective constituencies.
Additionally, RM10 million will be provided for the purpose of implementing a special Food Basket Assistance programme for the Orang Asli.
Oil prices remain
Retail prices for RON95 petrol, diesel, and LPG, will remain.
To address the issue of the increasing prices of 1kg to 5kg bottled cooking oil, the government will implement a Price Control program based on the threshold value of Crude Palm Oil.
To ensure the supply of 1kg polybag packed cooking oil is guaranteed, the government will provide an additional allocation of RM1 billion. This will fix the price of a 1kg polybag packs of cooking oil at a subsidized price of RM2.50.
Psychosocial support
The government will expand psychosocial support through channels such as talian kasih.
RM15 million will be allocated to non-governmental organizations or NGOs to assist the government in addressing social issues such as mental health, homelessness, and other social problems at the community level.
Electricity bill discounts
A 5% to 40% discount on electricity bills will be given according to use with a maximum limit of 900 kWh a month.
A discount of 40% will be given to electricity consumption below 200kWh per month and 15% for consumption between 201kWh to 300kWh per month.
This discount will go into effect for a period of three months beginning with the July 2021 bill.
For the affected sectors of the economy especially hotel operators, theme parks, convention centers, shopping malls, local tourism offices as well as travel and tourism agencies, an electricity bill discount of 10% will be extended for another three months, from October to December 2021.
Free internet
The country’s major telecommunications service provider companies have agreed to extend the provision of 1 gigabit of data, daily, for free, until the end of the year.
Mobile banks
Mobile banking services have been launched this month in Sarawak and Bank Simpanan Nasional will start the facility in Sabah in July.
To make it easier for more people to get banking services, the government will offer an allocation of RM18 million for local banks to provide about 30 Mobile Bank units in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak. This includes 250 rural areas and mukims.
Through this initiative, people can access various banking services including opening accounts; depositing, withdrawing, and transferring money; paying bills as well as digital banking.
You can find the original text for the speech here.
READ MORE: PEMULIH Recovery Plan: Part 2 – For The Economy
READ MORE: PEMULIH Recovery Plan: Part 3 – To Achieve Herd Immunity
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