RM912 mln under GKP 2.0 to be channelled to 304,000 MSMEs from Nov 30 - Tengku Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR: The allocation for the Prihatin Special Grant (GKP) 2.0 has increased to RM912 million from the initial allocation of RM600 million, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

He said close to 304,000 micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were eligible to receive the assistance, more than the 200,000 MSMEs as initially expected.

"The payment will be credited directly into the bank accounts registered during the applications for GKP 2.0, beginning from Nov 30, 2020," he said in a statement today.

Checks on the approvals can be made from Nov 27 at the GKP portal at https://gkp.hasil.gov.my.

Every application received by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has been verified with the data with government agencies including at the local authorities level and the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

Tengku Zafrul said the total recipients under GKP 1.0 and GKP 2.0 in 2020 was close to 849,000 MSMEs with financial assistance totalling RM2.55 billion.

GKP 2.0 under the KITA PRIHATIN economic stimulus package is a one-off financial aid of RM3,000 given to eligible MSMEs, which had not received the aid under previous GKP.

It aims to reduce the financial burden of businesses following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and help to increase their productivity as well as services to ensure the business continuity of the MSMEs.

Under GKP 1.0, more than 545,000 MSMEs received the benefits with financial assistance totalling RM1.63 billion.

-- BERNAMA