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KUALA LUMPUR – Budget 2023 will see a new initiative to encourage and empower the poor to increase their income level on their own effort.
Called the People’s Income Initiative (IPR), Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said RM750 million will be allocated to participants who must use the assistance for work purposes to generate income.
“It is the government’s commitment to put an end to hardcore poverty. About 130,000 poorest Malaysians regardless of race will be given immediate aid to help lift them out of poverty,” he said when tabling Budget 2023 today.
Anwar said the IPR scheme will enable participants to earn between RM2,000 and RM2,500 a month for two years, after which they are expected to use the earnings to generate future income.
The scheme will provide assistance or equipment to participants to generate their own income and will be given out on a monthly basis instead of as a lump sum.
Assistance can also be in the form of employment subsidies for employers who hire workers who are poor. The initiative will be managed by the Economy Ministry.
Anwar added that IPR participants must also be working in jobs or fields that fulfil the needs of their local community, such as agro-farming and food production.
A separate assistance for the poor is a RM2.5 billion allocation that will help some 400,000 recipients.
Anwar said relevant government agencies will be streamlining their respective databases on those eligible for aid, so as to avoid overlaps and prevent anyone eligible from falling through the cracks. – The Vibes, February 24, 2023
