10 million people to get Covid-19 (BKC) Phase 1 aid

Ismail Sabri participating in a video conference to review the BKC Phase 1 payment process online.

KUCHING, Sept 6: The Malaysian government has disbursed financial aid under Special Covid-19 Aid (BKC) Phase 1 to 10 million recipients today.

Earlier, Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob attended a video conference to review the payment process online with Finance Minister Senator Tengku Datuk Sri Utama Tengku Zafrul Aziz who was at Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) Putrajaya and Deputy Finance Minister Mohd Shahar Abdullah who was at the BSN office in Bera, Pahang.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Ismail Sabri had instructed the Finance Ministry (MOF) to ensure smooth distribution of BKC, particularly for recipients in rural areas as they are far from banking access and do not have bank accounts.

Data from MOF also revealed that there are 708,223 BKC recipients who do not have bank accounts.

“Therefore, I want the cash vouchers provided by MOF to reach the hands of these recipients without any delay. I hope that this assistance will help to reduce the people’s burden due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Ismail Sabri said.

He also took the opportunity to interact online with BKC recipients at several BSN branches in Putrajaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Pahang, Perlis and Johor.

Under the BKC, households categorised as hardcore poor will receive RM1,300 while eligible senior citizens and singles will receive RM500 each.

Households categorised under B40 will receive RM800 while eligible senior citizens and singles will receive RM200 each.

As for those in the M40 category, households will receive RM250 and qualified senior citizens and singles will get RM100 each. — DayakDaily