Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia will spur local economy, says economist

The government will provide RM2,000 in cash to families with three or more children, with a monthly household income of RM2,500 or less per month.

PETALING JAYA:

Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) handouts of up to RM2,000 or RM2,500 per household will help increase liquidity in the market, apart from boosting transactions involving the supply of goods and services, says an economist.

Putra Business School’s (Putra) Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said it would also help businesses and the community recover after almost two years of pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This cash assistance is given to those who need it most and therefore it will have a positive impact on households and also the economy because BKM recipients will spend the allocation to cover daily costs,” he told FMT.

He also described BKM as a systematic cash aid with an improved mechanism as it took into account the composition and situation of a household based on the number of children and the status of parents as guardians.

“This has resulted in the BKM allocation being able to reach more recipients, namely 9.6 million recipients as compared to 8.6 million recipients under the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR). Also, this time, the government ensures that the truly affected groups are the main focus,” he explained.

Under Budget 2022, the government introduced BKM to provide RM2,000 cash assistance to families with three or more children, with a monthly household income of below RM2,500 per month.

For households with a monthly income of RM2,501-RM5,000, RM800 would be given to families with three or more children.

This cash assistance is the largest compared with previous handouts under BPR for B40 households with two or more children receiving RM1,800, targeting three million recipients.

Under the BKM, the government will also provide an additional RM500 to single parents who earn less than RM5,000 while those who have dependents will receive an additional cash assistance of RM300.

Meanwhile, Putra president and chief executive officer, Zulkornain Yusop, said this cash assistance was a great benefit to households headed by single parents.

“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of them lost their jobs or lost the head of the family.

“It is hoped that this assistance can have a positive impact on the lives of the community at all levels, especially those with low incomes and have many family members or children to support,” he said.

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Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia will spur local economy, says economist

The RM2,000 cash aid under Budget 2022 is also more systematic than previous programmes as it takes into account the composition and situation of a household.