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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — The government has approved a total of RM12.76 billion of applications for the Wage Subsidy Programme 1.0 (WSP 1.0) as of Jan 29, said Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
He also said that a total of 322,177 employers and 2.64 million employees have received WSP benefits under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) and the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana).
“As for WSP 2.0 under Kita Prihatin, a total of RM741.16 million has been channelled to 64,345 employers to enable them to continue operating and maintain 518,793 employees.
“Under Budget 2021, targeted WSP was also introduced to assist the tourism and retail sectors, while all sectors affected by the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) this year are eligible to receive WSP 3.0 support under the Permai Assistance Package,” he said in the 40th Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (Laksana) report today.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the National Employment Council, which met for the second time on Feb 9, has estimated that more than 160,000 new jobs will be created this year through committed investments.
“It is hoped that through the joint efforts of all parties involved, the unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent recorded at end-December 2020 can be reduced in the coming months, especially with the government’s ongoing efforts such as the MyFutureJobs portal (https://www.myfuturejobs.gov.my/) and the Ministry of Human Resources’ e-LATiH platform (https://latih.hrdf.com.my/),” he said.
Tengku Zafrul also reminded the people to continue complying with the standard operating procedures in their economic activities and daily life, as the country’s economic recovery is largely based on the ability to break the Covid-19 chain of transmission.
“At the same time, the government will continue to support our public health capacity, ensure the continuity of businesses and protect the people’s livelihood through continued assistance,” he added. — Bernama