Kuala lumpur: About 8.1 million recipients have redeemed the RM100 one-off 'SARA Untuk Semua' assistance as of last Friday, with total spending amounting to nearly RM780 million, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said. He stated that the strong response to the initiative reflects the effectiveness of the government's approach in ensuring that assistance reaches the people directly to help ease cost-of-living pressures.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the categories of items that can be purchased with the assistance have been expanded, including frozen food, giving recipients more choices to meet their daily needs. Amir Hamzah mentioned that any unredeemed allocations by better-off recipients would be redirected to those in greater need, such as persons with disabilities and patients with chronic illnesses. Last year, RM150 million was returned for programmes targeting vulnerable groups.

Amir Hamzah highlighted that over the past three years, the government has implemented fiscal reforms through targeted measures, including the targeting of diesel and petrol subsidies to curb leakages. The resulting savings have been redistributed to the people through increased allocations for SARA and the Rahmah Cash Assistance (STR), which now total RM15 billion compared to RM6 billion under the previous 'Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia' (BR1M). This ensures assistance is delivered more fairly and accurately to target groups.

Efforts to address the cost of living have been strengthened under the 'Rahmah' initiative, which includes sales of essential goods at lower prices across all state constituencies nationwide. The Rahmah sales are held up to three times a month in each constituency, providing wider access for the public to obtain essential items at affordable prices amid ongoing cost pressures.

Amir Hamzah also noted that the government is pursuing structural economic reforms under the MADANI Economy framework, focusing on raising both income floors and ceilings by increasing people's earnings. Measures include raising the minimum wage to RM1,700 and implementing two rounds of civil service salary adjustments over two years, with average increases of up to 15 per cent. Government-linked investment companies have adopted a living wage approach, setting RM3,100 as the minimum, which is hoped to encourage the private sector to follow suit.