PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Finance will constantly monitor and improve the initiatives that have been and are being implemented to alleviate the burden of rakyat, said Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

In the 57th Laksana Report, he said the relevant guidelines for the welfare of the public had been set out.

“Standard operating procedures for every aspect of our life in terms of economy, movement control and social, have also been clarified in detail, along with the proposal to open up the sector.

“It is hoped that these details will give the rakyat and businesses a clear and tangible guideline to help them plan ahead to face the challenges of Covid-19 and contribute to the decline in cases, in line with the increase in the vaccination rate among all Malaysians. “

In addition, Tengku Zafrul said that the appeal period of Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) was opened from June 15 to 30, 2021, to help those who had not previously been approved.

“The applicant can lodge an appeal together with the relevant documents which will be examined by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia.

“As announced in the Strategic Program for the Empowerment of People and the Economy (Pemerkasa Plus) on May 31, the government introduced the Tambahan BPR worth 2.1 billion RM to help existing beneficiaries of the BPR 2021. Successful applicants are also eligible to receive the BPR Tambahan payment.

Separately, Tengku Zafrul said local banks approved RM12.12 billion in low-rate loan funds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as of June 4.

He added that the subsidized loan fund managed by Bank Negara will benefit 25,680 SMEs.

“This amount includes the Special Relief Mechanism (SRF), the Automation and Digitization Mechanism (ADF), the Economic Sector Mechanism (AES) and Agro-Food Facility funds.

“Although the funds from the SRF have been fully utilized, SMEs can still apply for financing programs which are still available through the funds of Bank Negara, such as ADF, AES and AF,” he said. In addition, as of June 4, Tengku Zafrul said a total of RM 67.5 million had been channeled to 13,869 companies in the form of grants and loans for subscription to scanning services.

Regarding the Penjana tourism finance program, he said the government has allocated RM 600 million to SMEs and micro-SMEs which are still affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.

“As of June 4, there were 666 requests for this funding and out of this total, 327 requests have been approved with a total funding of RM 65.1 million.

At the same time, a total of RM 421.2 million was channeled during the same period to 12,667 micro-SMEs, including those in the retail and service sectors, Tengku Zafrul added. Separately, he said, a total of 322,177 employers and 2.64 million employees have benefited from the Wage Subsidy Program (PSU) 1.0.

“As of June 4, approved wage subsidy applications have reached a value of RM12,891 billion.”

Tengku Zafrul added that the government approved requests for wage subsidies worth RM1.215 billion under PSU 2.0 as of June 4.

“A total of RM1.215bil has been channeled to 74,075 employers to continue to operate and maintain the employment of 645,522 employees,” he said.

For the recruitment incentive and training assistance program, Tengku Zafrul said a total of 137,593 workers had successfully found employment through the program as of June 4.

Major industries and sectors that employ workers include manufacturing as well as wholesale and retail trade, he said.

Meanwhile, for the frontline indemnity, Tengku Zafrul said the government had funneled a total of RM 787.61 million as of June 4, based on 2.19 million claims including doctors, nurses and other medical staff directly involved in the management and containment of Covid-19. pandemic.

“This special allowance is also extended to members of the military, police, customs, immigration, firefighters, members of the Civil Defense Force and members of Rela who are directly involved in the implementation. implementation of the movement control order. “