KUALA LUMPUR:The Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU) 2.0, a financial assistance paid to employers of every enterprise for each worker earning RM4,000 and below, effective Oct 1, under the KITA PRIHATIN Package, is still open for applications until Dec 31, 2020.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the PSU, was one of the most-utilised initiatives by employers, and as of Oct 16, 2020, a total of RM11.998 billion of wage subsidy was approved for the benefit of more than 322,150 employers, as well as more than 2.639 million employees.

He said this when presenting the 27th Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (LAKSANA) report through his Facebook account today.

On the Hiring Incentive Programme and Training Assistance, he said as of Oct 16, a total of 58,822 employees managed to get jobs through this programme.

Of them, 46,838 workers are under the age of 40 years, followed by 7,168 in 40-60 age group, 302 disabled people, and 4,514 apprentices.

On the initiative to propel businesses, Tengku Zafrul said RM2 billion was allocated under PENJANA's Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Financing, with priority given to SMEs from various business sectors who had never received any bank funding before.

He said as of Oct 16, 2020, a total of 4,176 SME applications had been approved with a financing value of RM930.4 million.

As for PENJANA's Tourism Fund worth RM1 billion, he said as of Oct 16, a total of 397 SMEs had submitted their applications, out of which 162 applications with a total of RM28.8 million had been approved.

Tengku Zafrul said under the TEKUN Business Recovery Scheme (TBRS), especially for micro SMEs, a total of RM77.4 million has been channelled to 11,683 micro SMEs, comprising automobile workshops, sundry stores and handicraft manufacturers.

As for the PENJANA's Credit Micro Financing under Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), as of Oct 16, a total of RM133.3 million had been channelled to 3,668 micro SMEs in the retail and services sector.

-- BERNAMA