KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — The government has disbursed RM20.64 billion to 357,639 employers through the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU) as of March 25, 2022, to retain 2.96 million local workers and reduce the unemployment rate among Malaysians.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said 322,177 employers and 2.64 million employees benefitted from PSU 1.0 through the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) and the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana), which saw approved wage subsidy applications reaching RM12.95 billion as of March 25. 

He said under PSU 2.0 as of March 25, 2022, a total of RM1.407 billion had been channelled to 81,133 employers to continue operating and maintain employment for 718,336 employees.

"For PSU 3.0, a total of RM3.731 billion has been channelled to 162,279 employers to maintain employment for 1,526,242 employees, as of March 25, 2022.

"PSU 3.0 has also been improved with the Permai, Pemerkasa and Pemerkasa+ assistance packages,” he said in the Laporan Kewangan Rakyat released today.

Meanwhile, for PSU 4.0, as of March 25, 2022, a total of RM2.471 billion has been channelled to 159,571 employers to continue operating and maintain employment for 1,878,549 employees, and a total of RM75.659 million has been channelled to 3,908 employers to maintain employment for 66,096 employees for PSU 5.0.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the government through various ministries and government agencies would continue reskilling and upskilling efforts for 2022 with a total allocation of RM1.1 billion targeting 220,000 job opportunities.

"The Finance Ministry and Human Resources Ministry have also been given the responsibility to provide a ‘single window’ to ensure that reskilling and upskilling programmes conducted by various ministries and agencies are implemented effectively and optimally.

"With the opening of borders, our economy will rebound, creating more jobs and increasing everyone’s income.

"Guided by the government’s positive policies, Keluarga Malaysia will rise again, stronger and more competitive than before,” he added.

Tengku Zafrul said the Finance Ministry hopes the transition to the endemic phase will be able to help support the recovery process of small and medium enterprises, and also the EPF one-off withdrawal of RM10,000 and special financial assistance in conjunction with Aidilfitri can help provide relief to the rakyat. — Bernama