RM13 billion to ease cost of living of 5.4 million aid recipients

KOTA KINABALU (Feb 27): The Madani Government remains committed to implementing various strategies and approaches in addressing the rakyat’s cost of living issues, including through the provision of cash assistance.

Among them is through the Sumbang Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbang Asas Rahmah (SARA) initiatives, where RM13 billion has been allocated for the STR and SARA programmes this year, an increase of RM3 billion compared to 2024.

Of this amount, RM8 billion has been allocated for the STR while RM5 billion is for the implementation of SARA.

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the provision of assistance through the STR and SARA will benefit 5.4 million low-income recipients – especially in the e-Kasih list from the categories of households, senior citizens without a partner and single people – including more than 120,000 recipients in Sabah and 110,000 recipients in Sarawak.

“At the same time, in addition to efforts at the Federal Government level, I would also like to express my appreciation to the State Governments that have implemented specific programmes to help the people address the cost of living.

“Cash assistance by the State Government will certainly provide added value to the people in an effort to help overcome the cost of living issue.

“For example, the implementation of the Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat Sabah (Syukur) progrmme, a cash assistance initiative introduced by the Sabah state government to help the needy, especially those who fall into the poor and hardcore poor categories.

“Through this programme, eligible recipients will be given cash assistance amounting to RM300 per month which will be given periodically either credited to a bank account, YONO e-Wallet application account or in cash through designated counters.

“For the year 2025, it is targeted that 100,000 recipients among the heads of poor and hardcore poor households will benefit from the implementation of the Syukur programme.

“For the first phase (January to March 2025), a total of 72,039 heads of households have been listed to receive the Syukur cash assistance throughout Sabah, including 1,544 heads of households in the Papar parliamentatary constituency,” he said in a statement after an event to advocate for the cost of living and open bank accounts for Syukur recipients in Papar on Thursday

Armizan, who is also Papar Member of Parliament, said cash assistance is a form of targeted social protection ecosystem that has a direct impact on recipients, as it gives recipients the flexibility to organize or determine their own spending, whether for the purchase of essential goods such as food, education and services, according to the current needs of the household.

He said this is also supported by the “Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan” report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in May 2024 on a survey on the impact of post-pandemic living costs of low-income households in Kuala Lumpur.

The minister pointed that among the main findings of the report related to cash assistance is that cash assistance and price control of food items are considered the most beneficial available policies for household.

He said the report also mentioned how cash assistance and price control initiative for basic food items was identified as an effective support mechanism and highly welcomed by households as a major step to alleviate the financial burden, adding that the direct cash assistance provides immediate relief for the recipients, which offers flexibility for them to provide allocations according to their most urgent needs.

“In addressing the issue of the people’s cost of living, the government through the National Cost of Living Action Council (NACCOL) has implemented a two-pronged strategy to not only control the increase in the price of goods, but also increase efforts to increase the people’s income.

“In addition to the provision of cash assistance, the implementation of programs such as the Madani Community Welfare Programme (SejaTi Madani) and the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) are efforts under the Madani Government to help the people generate income,” he said.

-Agency