KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — The third cache of cash aid for low income earners formerly known as Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia programme will be distributed on August 15, a week before the Aidiladha celebrations.
Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng said the next round of payment will amount to RM1.6 billion. The BR1M programme is now renamed cost of living aid (Bantuan Sara Hidup) or known as BSH.
“In conjunction with the Aidiladha celebration expected to fall on August 22, the government has agreed to hand out the third installment of the 2018 BSH on August 15,” he said in a statement issued today.
Lim said the third payment underlined Pakatan Harapan’s commitment to meet its election pledges despite the financial constraints facing the newly elected government.
“We have to stress that the RM1.6 billion payment will be made amid financial constraints stemming from the RM1 trillion debt incurred by the 1MDB scandal and mismanagement,” he said.
The DAP leader said the third BSH handout also proved wrong allegations that the PH administration was “going bankrupt” after it rolled back the Goods and Services tax.
The new government is also able to subsidise petrol, Lim noted further. Putrajaya has allocated RM3 billion worth of petrol subsidy for the rest of the year, he said.
Detractors have targeted many of PH’s popular policies and claimed public welfare spending will take a hit as the consumption levy’s removal would slash up to a fifth of government revenue.
BR1M was initiated by the previous Barisan Nasional administration to assist the country’s bottom 40 per cent income earners.
Some PH leaders, including current Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had previously labeled the BR1M programme as a form of “corruption”.
Despite the accusations, the cash handout assistance was highly popular. PH eventually decided to retain the programme but rebranded it as BSH.
