A TOTAL of 8.1 million people have redeemed the RM100 Sumbangan Asas Rahmah, with total spending reaching almost RM780 million as of last Friday.
Finance Minister II, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, said the figure was recorded within five days after the assistance was credited to the MyKad of all Malaysian citizens, regardless of income and background, on February 9.
He said the high redemption rate in a short period of time proved a very encouraging response to the initiative, thus reflecting the people's need for targeted assistance provided by the government in an effort to reduce the pressure on the cost of living.
"If we look at it this time, we have expanded the categories of goods that can be purchased, such as frozen food items.
"We see that the reception for that category is very good, in addition to many new things that people feel," he said.
Commenting on whether he himself redeemed SARA, Amir Hamzah said that there are individuals who are able to choose not to redeem the assistance, with RM150 million in surplus funds last year being channelled to programs involving vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities (OKU) and financing medical equipment for chronic patients.
"In the government's approach, we provide SARA for everyone, but for those who may already have their own means, they do not use SARA like I did last year, so we return the surplus to the people who are more burdened," he said.
When asked about the direction of cash assistance in the future, he said that the government is currently focusing on fiscal reform and targeting subsidies to ensure that all allocations are optimally channelled to the target groups.
According to him, for example, targeting diesel and petrol subsidies has successfully produced savings which are then redistributed to people's assistance programmes, including increased cash assistance allocations.
He said that the cash assistance allocation covering SARA and Rahmah Cash Contributions has now reached approximately RM15 billion.
"At the same time, the government has also strengthened efforts to increase the people's income by increasing the minimum wage to RM1,700 in addition to adjusting the salaries of civil servants to an average increase of 15 per cent over two years," he said.
"Also, for those working in our GLICs (Government-Linked Investment Companies), we have moved from the minimum wage as the lowest level to a decent wage, so GLICs have started to welcome a decent wage of RM3,100 as the minimum wage for them.
"We hope that with the government doing this, private companies are encouraged to follow the government's approach, where more workers will receive better wages to address the current issues," he said. – February 15, 2026
