KUALA LUMPUR – The government will extend the Wage Subsidy Programme (WSP) to WSP 4.0, which will be implemented over four months from August 1 to help employers continue their businesses and retain their employees, said Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
He said that for WSP 4.0, a total allocation of RM3.8 billion would be channelled to qualified employers, limited to 500 workers for each company.
“The programme has targeted 242,000 employers with about 2.5 million employees nationwide,” he said when presenting the 60th Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies report today.
He said WSP 4.0 would maintain the rate of RM600 per employee, and is open to all economic sectors for the first two months, while the subsequent two months would be specifically for sectors in the negative list.
“There is no longer a salary limit requirement, compared with the previous salary cap of RM4,000 and below.
“I urge all affected employers to apply for WSP 4.0 from August 1 until October 31.”
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the government had spent more than RM15 billion under WSP to save over 2.8 million jobs.
As an example of how the government is helping, he shared the simulation of a mid-sized small/medium enterprise (SME) that has received various benefits from April 2020 to December 2021, which would make a positive impact on the company.
“If this mid-sized SME receives a moratorium for six months, the additional cash flow it would enjoy is estimated at more than RM4.6 million in six months.
“This company would also receive wage subsidy assistance worth RM1.68 million,” he said.
The hypothetical company employs 200 workers, has a bank loan of RM50 million, and gets wage subsidies for 13 months, covering assistance from last year until end-2021.
On the whole, Tengku Zafrul said, taking into account all incentives that have been provided, the cash flow of this SME would show a positive impact amounting to RM6.3 million, or more than RM300,000 a month for the 21-month period.
“This also proves that the government’s assistance is continuous for the business sector. Besides these aids, there are other incentives, electricity discounts, and tax deductions local companies can benefit from,” he added. – Bernama, July 7, 2021
