Nearly 5.6 million recipients of monthly Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) aid had been recorded as of yesterday, says finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan.
He said this reflected a 99% usage rate, with a total of RM4.59 billion spent.
“As for the one‑off SARA appreciation payment to over 22 million adult Malaysians, more than 20 million people have spent the funds, or 92% of all recipients, with spending exceeding RM1.91 billion,” Bernama reported him as saying in the Dewan Negara today.
Amir Hamzah was responding to Senator Hasbie Muda regarding the ministry’s long‑term measures to ensure the implementation of targeted subsidies without technical issues involving the use or misuse of MyKads.
He said the capacity of the payment system had been significantly improved to handle the surge in transactions following…