Here are the 22 initiatives under PERMAI

A total of 22 initiatives will be implemented under PERMAI with three main focus, combating the COVID-19 outbreak, safeguarding the welfare of the people; and supporting the business continuity.

Here is the list of initiatives:

The Government has signed three agreements with vaccine producers and is expected to receive the first batch of vaccines by the end of February.

80 per cent or 27 million of the population is expected to be vaccinated by the first quarter of 2022.

The recruitment of 8,000 healthcare personnel for the Ministry of Health was approved last year with an additional 3,500 healthcare personnel scheduled to start working at the end of this month.

The one-off provision of RM500 to healthcare frontliners and RM300 to other frontliners will be paid in the first quarter of this year, while the existing special monthly allowance of RM600 to healthcare frontliners and RM200 to other frontliners will also continue until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Private hospitals will be receiving and treating both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients to help alleviate the strain of the public healthcare system.

While employers are advised to increase screening of employees, SOCSO is involved in the COVID-19 Screening Test Program on registered foreign workers with the cost of screening fully borne by SOCSO in red zones to identify possible COVID-19 clusters at the workplace.

The scope for tax relief relating to full health screening expenses has also been expanded to cover COVID-19 screening.

The first instalment of the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat will involve more than 8 million recipients.

Households earning up to RM5,000 per month will receive RM300 each while for those under the single category, earning up to RM2,000 per month will receive RM150.

The Government has increased the monthly rate of welfare assistance under the Social Welfare Department (JKM) with effect from January 2021, involving an allocation of RM2.2 billion to benefit more than 400,000 recipients.

JKM will also implement a Food Basket Program immediately which will provide essential food items worth RM100 for each eligible household, involving a total allocation of RM50 million.

The government will allocate RM25 million under the GLIC/GLC Disaster Relief Network program as a matching grant with government-linked companies for social initiatives.

Donors who have been assisting those impacted by the pandemic will also be eligible for a tax deduction based on their gross business income or aggregate income.

The moratorium facility, including the extension of the moratorium and restructuring of loan repayment, will continue to be offered by banks.

15 banks have already offered the loan repayment moratorium for flood-affected states.

To further enhance the i-Sinar facility, EPF will provide an advance of up to RM1,000 from the amount applied under the i-Sinar Category 2 facility.

Members need to only provide a self-declaration that they meet the prescribed criteria and submit the supporting documents online. The advance payment will commence on 26 January.

Special tax relief of up to RM2,500 which is granted for the purchase of mobile phones, computers and tablets which expired on 31 December 2020, will be extended for another year until the end of 2021.

The provision of free 1 Gigabit data worth RM 500 million offered to the public which started on 1 January 2021 will be extended until the end of April 2021.

A special subscription package for SPM and STPM students will also be extended to all students of higher learning institutions and be made available until the end of April 2021.

Extension of the sales tax exemption for locally assembled and imported passenger until 30 June 2021.

PTPTN borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or floods can apply for a three-month PTPTN loan repayment moratorium. The application can be made until 31 March 2021.

The Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 under SOCSO will be enhanced whereby all employers operating in the MCO states will be eligible to apply, irrespective of sector.

For a period of one-month, eligible employers will receive a wage subsidy of RM600 for each of their employee earning less than RM4,000. The wage subsidy limit of 200 employees for each employer will also be increased to 500 employees.

The government has agreed to relax the conditions for the Employment Insurance System program or SIP PRIHATIN whereby employees who do not meet the minimum contribution conditions, or whose contract was not extended after having been renewed for at least 3 times previously, are now eligible to apply for the SIP PRIHATIN assistance of 30 per cent of their monthly salary for a period of 3 months.

The government will expand the Prihatin Special Grant Plus assistance to cover 500,000 SMEs in the seven MCO states with a payment of RM1,000 each, while 300,000 SMEs in other states will receive RM500 each.

Should a state be declared a red zone with MCO imposed, the government is ready to assist by immediately channelling additional assistance to SMEs in that state.

A one-off financial assistance of RM500 will be given to 14,000 tourist guides as well as 118,000 drivers of taxis, school buses, tour buses, rental cars and e-hailing vehicles, with an additional allocation of RM66 million.

A prior exemption from excise duty and sales tax for the purpose of transfer, disposal and for the private use of taxis, provided the vehicle is owned for seven years, has also been reduced to five years, effective from 1 January to 31 December 2021.

The government will expedite the implementation of microcredit schemes which includes RM1 billion microcredit facilities as well as soft loans amounting to RM390 million by Bank Simpanan Nasional, RM350 million by Agrobank and RM295 million by TEKUN.

The government will accelerate the implementation of the SME and Micro SME e-Commerce Campaign and Shop Malaysia Online campaign, with a total allocation of RM300 million.

The Danajamin Guarantee Scheme or SJPD amounting to RM50 billion will now include the increase of maximum financing from RM500 million to RM1 billion, the expansion of the scope of financing to cover working capital with a guarantee period of up to 10 years and allowing foreign-owned companies operating in Malaysia to obtain the SJPD guarantee provided that Malaysian employees account for at least 75 per cent of their workforce.

MARA will continue its MARA PRIHATIN Peace of Mind 2.0 program, where borrowers can apply to reschedule the repayment of MARA education loan facilities, or for business loan moratorium until 31 March 2021.

MARA entrepreneurs affected by COVID-19, MCO and the floods can also apply for the MARA business financing rescheduling programme.

MARA has agreed to provide a 30 per cent rental discount on business premises for a period of six months from November 2020 to April 2021.

A special tax deduction will also be given to any company that provides a reduction of rental on business premises to SMEs of at least 30 per cent from the original rental rate from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

This special deduction will be expanded to cover the rental reduction also given to non-SMEs and the period will extend until 30 June 2021.

The Human Resources Development Fund will also exempt the employer levy for companies that are unable to operate during the MCO and CMCO periods.

A special discount of 10 per cent on electricity bills will be given from January to March 2021 to six business sectors nationwide, comprising hotel operators, theme parks, convention centres, shopping malls, local airline offices as well as travel and tour agencies.

Electricity rebates will be given to all TNB users, domestic and non-domestic at a rate of 2 sen per kilowatt-hour from 1st January to 30th June 2021

Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan will introduce a Bus and Taxi Hire Purchase Rehabilitation Scheme whereby 50 per cent guarantee on financing from hire purchase and leasing companies will be provided for selected buses such as sightseeing buses, and taxis.

COVID-19 Act 2020, or Act 829, enacted October last year to assist individuals and businesses that were economically impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak covers the inability to perform contractual obligations which will now be extended to 31st March 2021.

This includes hiring purchase or lease contracts and credit sales contracts which benefit groups such as the B40, M40 and micro-enterprises who are unable to meet their contractual obligations.