PEMULIH Stimulus Package: 9 Things You Need to Know

As we’re now under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan, it makes sense for the gahmen to announce a new financial aid, which is the Rakyat Protection and Economic Recovery Package (PEMULIH), worth RM150 billion (RM10 billion direct fiscal injection is from them).

FYI, this new package is focusing on continuing the People’s Concern Agenda (Agenda Prihatin Rakyat), supporting businesses, and improving vaccination rates. "I will not compromise on taking care of the people's wellbeing and combating Covid-19," said our PM.

Ever since the pandemic hits, many people and business are consistently affected, financially. Not to mention as we're still under lockdown, it bounds to get worse. If you're one of those, stay strong. Here are the initiatives under PEMULIH that we hope can help lessen your burden.

What's covered in this article?

1. Additional pay of RM500 for Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR)

Following up on the latest BPR initiatives from PEMERKASA Plus, the gahmen has agreed to pay an additional RM500 in July as they added RM4.9 billion. The payment will be made starting at the end of June 2021.

As for the third phase for BPR which consists of financial aid ranging from RM100 to RM1,400, the payment will start in September 2021. The same goes for the successful BPR appeal cases,

2. Covid-19 Special Assistance will be provided

To ensure the rakyat will get consistent financial aid in upcoming months, the gahmen has launched the first Covid-19 Special Assistance. In this initiative, the aids are divided into 3 categories, which are hardcore poor, bottom 40 (B40) and middle 40 (M40).

Households in hardcore poor will get financial assistance of RM1,300. They’ll get RM500 in August, another RM500 in November and the remaining RM300 in December.
Bachelors in hardcore poor will get a total of RM500. RM200 in August and RM300 in November.
Households in the B40 category also will get RM800 (RM500 in August and RM300 in December).
As for B40 bachelors, they’ll receive financial assistance of RM200 in August.
Households and bachelors in M40 will get RM250 and RM100 respectively in August

3. Income loss assistance will be channelled

If you’re one of the people that have lost a source of income, the gahmen is set to channel RM500 in October. This will be according to the data from EPF and SOCSO.

Also, the gahmen will expand the Job Seeker Allowance to non-SOCSO contributors. This means that fresh graduates, school leavers and informal sector workers will be able to get it. Just register at MYFutureJobs and you’ll get at least an RM300 allowance (3 to 6 months).

If you’re disabled and have lost your job (doesn’t receive Disabled Worker Allowance), you’ll receive RM500 for a period of 3 months.

4. Automatic 6-month blanket loan moratoriums for all

Last year, the gahmen granted a blanket loan moratorium up until September 2020. Since then, most of the banks do provide targeted loan moratoriums but it’s on a case-to-case basis. Luckily, it’s not the case anymore.

With this 6-month moratorium, all individual borrowers and micro-entrepreneurs can enjoy it as well. There’s also no requirement, this is for everyone including the T20.

You don’t even need to have income reduction or any sorts of documentation. You’ll just have to apply starting from 7 July and it’ll get approved automatically.

P/s: SME operators can also apply but are subject to the bank’s review and approval.

Besides that, there are also other loan moratoriums…

3-month targeted moratorium for PTPTN borrowers
Defer repayment of Pinjaman Pelajaran Persekutuan (JPA) and payment of compensation claims of Biasiswa Persekutuan recipients for up to 6 months
Deferring the repayment of Pinjaman Pelajaran MARA for a period of 3 months or rescheduling the repayment of the loan with monthly instalments as low as RM100 for 12 months
Deferring the repayment of the Perbadanan Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran (PTPK) loan for 3 months
MARA entrepreneurs also get a deferment of repayment of their MARA business financing for a period of 3 months or rescheduling by extending the financing period by up to 36 months
Affected insurance and takaful policyholders can also apply to defer their insurance premium payments and takaful contributions (opt-in) which will be extended until 31 December 2021

5. Wage Subsidy Program (PSU) 4.0 under PERKESO is revised

Before this, the PSU initiative was limited to only 500 workers per company. It’s also for workers that are earning below RM4,000 which isn’t the case anymore. PSU 4.0 has no salary limit conditions - employees earning above RM4,00 also qualify!

With PSU 4.0, the gahmen will accommodate up to 500 workers (RM600 each) for a period of 4 months. All sectors in Phase 2 of NRP will get the incentive for 2 months. As for the next 2 months, it’s specifically for sectors categorised in the negative list during Phase 3.

6. EPF introduced a new withdrawal facility, i-Citra

This new withdrawal facility, i-Citra, will allow EPF members to receive RM5,000 with a fixed payment rate of RM1,000 (minimum is RM50) per month. Do note that this is subject to your total EPF savings.

To apply, you’ll have to be below 55 years old and have at least RM150 in your EPF savings. You’ll also need to have RM100 in your Account 1 after i-Citra withdrawal. More information will be provided on the i-Citra online portal.

The application will open starting from 15 July until 31 September 2021. The first payment will be made a month after. Read on to know other things you can use your EPF monies for.

7. One-off financial assistance for sports, nurseries, school canteen and travel agencies operators

Here’s the list of one-off financial assistance you’ll get:

Sports facilities’ operators will get a one-off RM3,000 assistance
RM3,000 special assistance for 12,400 nursery operators (registered under the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development and Ministry of Education
RM3,000 'one-off' assistance for more than 5,300 registered travel agencies when the country moves to Phase 3 of NRP
School canteen operators financial assistance in the form of RM1,000 (registered only!)

8. 3-month electricity bill discounts starting July 2021

To reduce your monthly commitment, the gahmen decided to give discounts on your electricity bill between 5% to 40% up to 3 months. This is depending on your electricity usage with a maximum limit of 900kWh a month.

For example, you’ll receive a 40% discount if your electricity consumption is below 200kWh per month. It’ll be a 15% discount if you consume between 201kWh to 300kWh per month.

ALSO READ: 6 Ways To Jimat Your Electric Bills Like Smart Consumers

On another note, a 10% electricity bill discount will be extended for another 3 months, from October to December 2021 for the affected sectors of the economy. This includes hotel operators, theme park operators, travel agencies and many more.

9. Free 1GB of Internet Data until the year-end

Unfortunately, not everyone has the privilege of a good internet connection. Some are barely holding on with the basic internet plan which is bound to cause some problems for their works and studies.

That’s why the gahmen and our country’s internet providers have agreed to extend the 1GB free daily data until 31 December.

Hopefully kan, these PEMULIH initiatives will further help the rakyat’s (you) livelihoods. Don’t forget to share with your family and friends. They might need some assistance too.

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*The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Loanstreet accepts no responsibility for loss that may arise from reliance on information contained in the articles.