Laksana: RM12.6b wage subsidy approved under Penjana

by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / Pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

A TOTAL of RM12.61 billion wage subsidies were approved as of Dec 11, 2020, under the Ministry of Finance’s Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination unit Between National Agencies (Laksana) initiative.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the Wage Subsidy Programme, which is parked under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package, also benefitted 322,177 employers.

In his presentation of the 34th Laksana report, which is the last note for the year, Tengku Zafrul said the hiring incentive programme and training assistance also helped 106,443 employees to secure jobs throughout the year.

“Of the number, 85,242 individuals were below the age of 40 (13,513) between 40 and 60 (6,420) apprentices and 1,268 were persons with disabilities.

“Among the main industries actively hired workers were manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade,” he said.

Meanwhile, the reskilling and upskilling programmes reported the approval of 129,144 participants as of Dec 11.

“Courses involving entrepreneurial knowledge received the highest amount of responses, which included how to trade online and compete internationally,” he said.

As for the short-term National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) to propel businesses, a financing value of RM1.1 billion of the RM2 billion allocation for the 5,576 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was approved.

Tengku Zafrul said the Tekun Business Recovery Scheme also saw a total of RM99.2 million channelled to 14,861 micro SMEs as of Dec 11.

He added that the Penjana Micro Credit Financing under Bank Simpanan Nasional also saw a total provision of RM253.1 million to 7,252 micro SMEs involved in the retail and services sectors, while the Bumiputera Relief Financing (BRF) was granted to 160 SMEs involving a total of RM40.8 million as of Dec 11.

The BRF was introduced by Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd, which received RM200 million special fund allocation to help Bumiputera SMEs in the retail and services sectors, with a financing of between RM100,000 and RM1 million for SMEs involved.

Under Penjana’s objective to stimulate the economy, Tengku Zafrul said the initiative to support the agriculture and food industries has also benefitted 6,094 agricultural micro SMEs with a value of RM60.9 million as of Dec 11.

“Of the allocation of RM400 million, RM350 million comprised allocation under the Agrobank Micro Credit Financing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the service tax exemption for hotels has been extended to services by accommodation operators between Sept 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.

As of Dec 11, the value of the tax exemption given to these operators was RM836.6 million.

“Among other initiatives to support the tourism sector are individual income tax relief of up to RM1,000 on travel expenses and a full tourism tax exemption,” Tengku Zafrul said.

The Laksana report was first presented on April 14 to relay the results of the economic stimulus packages announced by the government.

Tengku Zafrul said the government will also be monitoring at least 21 initiatives launched under the new Budget 2021 starting from January 2021.

“The initiatives would be monitored alongside the continuous monitoring of 32 initiatives, including the i-Sinar, Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) 2.0 and programmes to ensure the livelihood of vulnerable groups.

“Among the programmes are the Takaful MySalam protection for the B40 (bottom 40%) income group, local social support centres with an allocation of RM21 million, Tenang protection voucher, working insurance system,” he added.

He also said among the initiatives that would be monitored continuously are the support for withdrawal from two Employees Provident Fund (EPF) accounts for insurance, unlimited travel pass My30 and MyRail, distribution of laptops to 150 students at 500 schools, as well as the maintenance and building of the people’s houses.

Tengku Zafrul said initiatives for industries will also be monitored, such as facilities for agro-food and automation, and digital, as well as tourism financing.