KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Wage subsidies disbursed under the Penjana stimulus package have surpassed RM12 billion as of October 30, with 322,284 companies having received the aid, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said today.
The programme is said to have helped keep up to 2.63 million jobs, Zafrul added.
“I would also like to remind employers that we have made an additional allocation of RM1.5 billion to extend this programme for three more months,” the minister said in a message delivered “live” on Facebook this afternoon.
The additional allocation was unveiled under the Perikatan Nasional administration's first federal Budget tabled on November 6.
The programme is expected to save 900,000 more jobs amid concern that companies are forced to cut costs as the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic forces public health authorities to enforce new curbs.
The unemployment rate peaked at 5 per cent in mid-year before dropping to 4.7 per cent in August after the government began lifting movement restrictions gradually.
But employers have warned about possibly culling more jobs in light of slumping demand caused by the sharp spike in daily cases in the last two months, unless more help is given.
Tengku Zafrul said today the government will continue with its rehiring incentives. As of October 30, over 70,000 people have been rehired, the bulk being those aged 40 and below, at 56, 315.
Manufacturing topped the rehiring rate by sector followed by services, official data showed.
