The government is considering consolidating its direct cash assistance, particularly after Budget 2021, said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
He said the government is discussing with stakeholders, including the Social Security Organisation (Socso) on improvements to the wage subsidy programme, as various aspects need to be considered, including wage differences in Malaysia.
"For instance, the employment insurance system (EIS) is for Socso and at the same time, the Wage Subsidy Programme (Wage Subsidy 2.0) is from the government and it is based on a targeted approach based on a particular sector," he said.
Zafrul was speaking at the Malaysian Economic Summit 2020 today. The speaking session was moderated by Bursa Malaysia Bhd chairperson Abdul Wahid Omar.
The minister was responding to a question on whether the government will consolidate the existing direct crisis response programmes, especially the Penjana handout and other disbursement schemes into an automatic stabiliser - similar to other countries.
The consolidation is expected to speed up help for members of the public who have lost their income.
The government extended the Wage Subsidy 2.0 for another three months until December 2020 to provide support for businesses to sustain themselves and to safeguard employment, in light of lower projected domestic and export sales.
Under the Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package (Kita Prihatin), the government extended the Wage Subsidy 2.0 with an additional allocation of RM2.4 billion which is expected to benefit 1.3 million employees.
- Bernama
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