2024 Budget: Rahmah Cash Aid Amount To Be Increased Next Year
The application for STR will open November 2023 and will go on all year long.
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In tabling the 2024 budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that he received many complaints from people who are facing challenges in maintaining their household costs with the increase in the prices of goods.
“This issue has always been the Government’s priority in ensuring low-income households continue to be given appropriate help,” he said when tabling the 2024 Budget today.
The government is able to increase the contribution of Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) to the people after retargeting subsidies, which 60 percent of the population will benefit from next year.
The STR allocation has been increased by RM2 billion from RM8 billion to RM10 billion.
The maximum STR rate will also go up from RM3,100 to RM3,700. Besides that, the minimum rate of STR for the youth has also been increased from RM350 to RM500.
The first STR payment for one household previously was RM300 but next year it will be increased to RM500 and the prime minister hopes that it can be distributed before Ramadan.
As for the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) aid, Anwar said when it was introduced this year, the government credited RM100 a month into the myKad of 200,000 recipients for six months.
“With SARA, recipients only need to go to grocery shops to purchase basic goods by using their myKad.
“Taking into account the positive feedback from this initiative, the government has agreed to widen its implementation to include 700,000 STR recipients who will receive RM100 a month for 12 months,” he said.
Anwar added that the government will be taking a new approach on the STR applications. This time around, applications can be sent in as early as November 2023 and will remain open all year long, compared to once a year previously.
“Insya-Allah the first payment of RM500 will be made in February 2024,” Anwar said.
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