Wage subsidies approved for 159,000 firms so far

The government has approved 159,000 applications for its wage subsidy scheme so far.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz (above) said the payout will involve RM1.13 billion for 947,000 employees.

This was announced during Tengku Zafrul's weekly briefing on the implementation of the government's economic stimulus plan.

The three-months wage subsidy scheme is tiered according to the number of employees in each firm.

For firms with less than 76 staff, the subsidy is RM1,200 a month for each eligible worker. The subsidy is RM800 a month for firms with between 76 and 200 workers, and RM600 a month for firms with more than 200 workers.

Firms can only seek government subsidy for employees who earn a monthly wage of RM4,000 and below. The number of claims per company are capped at 200.

Companies with more than 75 employees must also demonstrate a depreciation rate of 50 percent or more of total sales or revenue compared to January or the following months to qualify for the scheme.

Eligible companies can submit their application for the wage subsidy scheme on the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) website.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said of the RM6.3 billion set aside by Bank Negara for the Special Relief Facility of small and medium enterprises prepared by Bank Negara, RM2.7 billion worth of loans have been approved for 5,000 companies.

This would translate to 42.9 percent of available funds being taken up. The interest rate is set at 3 percent per annum.

On the RM700 million zero-interest micro-credit scheme, he said RM45 million worth of loans have been approved so far.

He said around 900 successful applicants applied for the loan under Bank Simpanan Nasional while around 600 applied for the loan under Tekun Nasional.

"I hope more micro business owners will apply for this scheme. Contact Bank Simpanan Nasional and Tekun Nasional," said Tengku Zafrul.

The take-up rate for this scheme, where borrowers can lend up to RM10,000 for free, is low considering that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin estimated that the scheme was meant to benefit 700,000 small business owners.

On the RM3,000 grant for small business owners, Tengku Zafrul said applications through the Inland Revenue Board will begin on May 1. - Mkini