Tengku Zafrul: Micro SMEs to get additional RM500 aid under GKP 3.0 from today

KUALA LUMPUR: The additional RM500 aid under the Prihatin Special Grant 3.0 (GKP 3.0) announced via PEMERKASA Plus package will be paid from today to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises in phases, said the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

In a statement today, its Minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said this payment is in addition to the RM1,000 assistance which was credited to the companies' bank accounts registered in the GKP system in mid-June 2021.

"The payment which involves a financial implication of almost RM500 million will be credited directly to their accounts.

"Subsequently, under the National People's Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (PEMULIH) announced on June 28, 2021, additional payment for GKP 4.0 of RM500 will be channelled to existing and new recipients in September and November 2021 respectively," he said.

Tengku Zafrul said for micro SMEs which have not received any GKP assistance previously, the registration for GKP 4.0 will be open from July 15-31, 2021.

On the whole, the total allocation that has been channelled and will be distributed to almost one million micro SMEs under GKP amounted to RM6.08 billion, since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

He said the government is hopeful that the continuous direct assistance channelled to micro SMEs would reduce their burden, especially for businesses that are not allowed to operate currently.

"Besides GKP, there are many more initiatives that micro SMEs can use for the long-term planning of their respective business recovery.

"This includes soft loan fund for micro SMEs totalling RM2.9 billion through Bank Simpanan Nasional, Agrobank, MARA, SME Corp, Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM) and National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (TEKUN)," he said.

Soft loan fund allocation for SMEs and micro SMEs are also available under Bank Negara Malaysia amounting to RM8.6 billion and this included an additional fund of RM2 billion via PEMERKASA Plus package and another RM2 billion through PEMULIH.

Further information on the funds and assistance can be obtained at https://belanjawan2021.treasury.gov.my/manfaat/

-- BERNAMA