KUALA LUMPUR: This year's subsidy bill is expected to be RM80 billion, which is the largest in the country's history, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
In the 100th People's Financial Report released today, he said to reduce inflationary pressure on the people, the government provided consumption subsidies for petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), cooking oil, flour and electricity.
"Overall, the projected consumption subsidies expenditure for 2022 is the highest amount of subsidies in history ever borne by any government.
"When added with other assistance, such as social welfare assistance, agricultural assistance, fishermen and so on, the total subsidies are expected to be close to RM80 billion for 2022, which is the largest amount of subsidies in history," he said.
Read more: Largest ever subsidy of RM77.3 bln for 2022 to reduce cost of living
However, he said government policies to curb inflation and directly help those in need would continue.
He said the policy led to a controllable situation, especially when compared with other countries.
"A study on the holistic cessation of subsidies and the re-channelling of those savings to those in dire need is part of the government's strategy to ensure the country's fiscal sustainability in the medium and long term," he said.
Tengku Zafrul said large amounts of government funds had been spent to address the impact of the pandemic, including saving people's lives through national vaccination programmes and maintaining employment and business capacity through Wage Subsidy Programmes.
He said in an effort to rebuild the country's funds and fiscal resilience, the holistic cessation of subsidies reflected the government's fair and responsible attitude to ensure the welfare of the B40 group.
Tengku Zafrul said the ministry was also reviewing the country's fiscal resources that needed to be strengthened to rebuild Malaysia's socio-economic resilience, especially for the B40 and M40 groups.
"This government's foresight also aims to reduce the indebtedness of our children and grandchildren in the future," he said.
The report said 92 companies had applied for the Danajamin PRIHATIN Guarantee Scheme as of June 10. The total guarantee approved was RM2.08 billion for 61 companies.
It said the Wage Subsidy Programme had channelled more than RM20 billion to more than 350,000 employers to maintain three million jobs.
Under Wage Subsidy Programme 4.0 RM2.555 billion has been channelled to 163,431 employers to save 1,916,733 jobs as at June 10.
Meanwhile, RM183.123 million was channelled to 7,385 employers to continue operating and maintain employment for 105,300 employees under the Wage Subsidy Programme 5.0. — BERNAMA