Treasury Secretary-General Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said discussions were being held on how to improve the programme, such as having a mandatory training session for them.

“Thus, after the training, they will be able to earn a higher income and come out of the group of BR1M recipients,” he said when opening the 11th Malaysian National Economic Conference here today.

Mohd Irwan Serigar said the implementation of a health insurance scheme for Malaysians would also be presented in the 2017 Budget.

“This scheme will be able to directly reduce the burden on the government, because we spend more than RM20 billion just on medicines.”

He said the scheme was currently being discussed and finalised with the Health Ministry and would be implemented as soon as possible.

“We have presented it to the National Economic Council and other related entities to set up and manage the health insurance so that the low-income group can receive better health services.”