By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 10: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has announced that the government will once again roll out the RM100 Bantuan Penghargaan Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) to 22 million Malaysians in mid-February 2026.
“This (RM100) will be distributed in mid-February which can be utilised for Ramadhan preparations and Chinese New Year celebrations,” said Anwar when tabling the Federal Budget 2026 in Parliament today.
Following the first rollout on August 31 this year, Anwar revealed that over 70 per cent of the funds have already been utilised. He added that the remaining unspent SARA funds will be redirected to programmes benefiting the poor.
For the year 2026, Anwar also announced that all nine million recipients of the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) will receive SARA assistance of up to RM100 per month (RM1,200 annually). Meanwhile, one million STR recipients under e-Kasih will be eligible for SARA up to RM200 per month (RM2,400 per year), while single individuals under STR will receive RM50 monthly (RM600 annually).
The maximum household benefit is capped at RM4,600, comprising STR RM2,000 and SARA RM2,400, for households earning below RM2,500 per month with five children.
Anwar also disclosed that the total STR SARA allocation for 2026 amounts to RM15 billion, a significant increase made possible through savings generated from the targeted subsidy rationalisation, particularly from diesel and RON95 fuel.
With regards to housing support, Anwar said the Skim Jaminan Kredit Perumahan (SJKP) allocation for Bumiputera has significantly increased to RM12.3 billion, up from RM2 billion in 2022.
As for business financing, he noted that the Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP) guarantee scheme for Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has also shown steady growth: RM11.9 billion in 2022, RM13.4 billion in 2023, and RM13.9 billion in 2024, accounting for over 75 per cent of total SJPP financing. —DayakDaily
