Finance Ministry Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has announced during the tabling of Budget 2022 today that the government will introduce a new direct cash assistance programme by the name of Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM), offering . It is an improvement from the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) programme and other previous direct cash aid initiatives, seeking to assist those who are truly in need of help.

Under the enhanced BKM, households that are earning less than RM2,500 per month and have three children or more will receive a cash assistance of RM2,000. This is an increase from the highest amount of RM1,800 that was provided under the BPR programme, which was introduced under the previous national Budget to replace the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) initiative.

On top of the RM2,000, single parents earning less than RM5,000 per month will receive an additional RM500, whereas old folks will be provided with an extra cash aid of RM300. This means that a single mother or father with three or more children is technically eligible to receive a maximum BKM of RM2,500. Here’s a quick summary of the BKM programme:

Households/Recipients	No. of Children	Total BKM Cash Aid (RM)
Households with monthly income of <RM2,500	3+ Up to 2 0	RM2,000 RM1,500 RM1,000
Single parents with dependents and household income of <RM5,000	N/A	Additional RM500
Households with senior citizens	N/A	Additional RM300

In total, the government will allocate RM8.2 billion for the BKM programme, and it is expected to benefit more than 9.6 million recipients. In comparison, BPR had an allocation of RM7 million, benefitting only 8.6 million recipients.

• TAGS:
• B40
• B40 Households
• Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM)
• Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR)
• Bantuan Sara Hidup
• Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH)
• BPR
• Cash Aid