No New T20 Classification Under Discussion, Focus On BUDI95 -- Amir Hamzah

BALIK PULAU, May 17 (Bernama) -- The government has not discussed any proposal to introduce a new classification for the top 20 per cent income group (T20), Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.

He said the government is instead focused on improving the existing BUDI MADANI RON95 (BUDI95) initiative, which he described as comprehensive and fair to all groups.

"We are not discussing anything on the T20 classification at this point, so I do not know how the issue came about.

"Our approach is to look at fuel usage nationwide. We are using the same approach as in BUDI95 because we believe the current system is sufficiently comprehensive and fair to everyone, and we will extend it to Sabah and Sarawak as well," he told reporters.

He was speaking after officiating at the opening and handover of an additional block of preschool classrooms for the Special Education Integrated Programme (PPKI) at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tan Sri Awang Had Salleh here today. Also present was Education Ministry secretary-general Datuk Wan Hashim Wan Rahim.

Commenting on the National Union of the Teaching Profession's (NUTP) call for the government to reconsider the provision of 300 litres of monthly fuel subsidy under BUDI95 for teachers, Amir Hamzah said the government must take into account global oil market conditions and the subsidy burden it bears.

He said the conflict in the Middle East had put pressure on global oil supplies, causing the government's monthly subsidy bill to rise from about RM700 million to nearly RM7 billion in March before easing to between RM3.5 billion and RM4 billion recently.

As such, he said the government had reduced the subsidy quota from 300 litres to 200 litres to minimise the risk of abuse, encourage prudent fuel consumption and ease the subsidy burden.

Meanwhile, Amir Hamzah said eligible micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can apply for financing of up to RM750,000 under Bank Negara Malaysia's RM5 billion SME Financing Facility for Sustainability and Resilience (SME SRF), with a maximum interest or profit rate of 3.7 per cent per annum.