KUALA LUMPUR: The final payment of the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN 2.0) under the "Kita Prihatin" package introduced last year will be brought forward from Jan 21, 2021 onwards, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced today.
According to him, a total of 11.1 million recipients will receive a total payment of RM2.38 billion.
As for phase one of Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR), Muhyiddin said the first instalment will involve more than eight million recipients.
"Households earning up to RM5,000 per month will receive RM300 each while for those under single category, earning up to RM2,000 per month will receive RM150," he said in a special address aired live today.
Apart from that, Muhyiddin also said that the government will allocate RM25 million under the government-linked investment companies (GLIC) and government-linked companies (GLC) Disaster Relief Network programme as a matching grant with GLCs for social initiatives.
He said this will include initiatives that contributed towards protecting the welfare of vulnerable groups, he said.
"This includes the provision of community assistance, including to the elderly, homeless, the disabled and flood victims.
"In appreciation of the noble efforts of those who would like to make contributions towards curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has announced several incentives in the form of tax deductions for donors who have been assisting in cash and kind those impacted by the pandemic.
"Such donors are eligible for a tax deduction based on their gross business income or aggregate income."
Under the 2021 Budget, it was announced that the government has increased the monthly rate of welfare assistance under the Social Welfare Department (JKM) with effect from January 2021.
Muhyiddin who is also Pagoh member of parliament said this welfare assistance will involve an allocation of RM2.2 billion and will provide benefit to over 400,000 recipients.
"JKM will also implement a Food Basket Programme immediately which will provide essential food items worth RM100 for each eligible household, involving a total allocation of RM50 million."