KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): The federal government is raising the allocation for its cash assistance programme, namely the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA), from RM10 billion previously to RM13 billion under Budget 2025.

Prime Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in tabling the budget on Friday, said this is the highest allocation for cash assistance in the country's history, and that the programme seeks to benefit nine million recipients, which is equivalent to about 60% of Malaysia's adult population.

For comparison, the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia under the administration of former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri had an allocation of RM8 billion in 2022, while the allocation for Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat under former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin totalled RM6.5 billion under Budget 2021.

The cash assistance programme was first introduced in 2012 by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, then known as Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia, with an initial allocation of RM2.2 billion. By 2017, allocations for the cash handouts, which grew year by year, was RM6.3 billion.

Under Budget 2025, a total of 4.1 million STR recipients in the household category will receive SARA of RM100 per month, compared to 700,000 recipients this year. The RM3 billion increase in total allocation, Anwar said, will enable the maximum amount received by households to increase to RM4,600 compared with RM3,700 previously.

The singles category, meanwhile, will receive a one-off RM600.

"SARA will be credited into the recipients' MyKAD starting April 2025 and this can be spent to buy basic items such as food and beverages, medicines, school supplies and personal hygiene [products] at more than 600 supermarkets and retail stores nationwide," Anwar said.

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