Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has revealed that the government will now also take into consideration an individual’s assets when determining whether they should be included as part of the targeted groups eligible for social assistances, including subsidies. This is in addition to other existing criteria, such as income, household status, distance to workplace, and locality.

“The aid determination process will now take into account the assets – such as properties, vehicles, and land owned – to provide a more comprehensive assessment of an individual’s financial situation. It is no longer solely based on income declaration,” said the minister.

Prior to this, Rafizi had already shared that the government’s new approach towards targeted subsidies will rely on an individual’s net disposable income, as opposed to the current income-based approach. This means that the government will also look at your monthly financial commitments in relation to your take-home pay, instead of just the household income.

Aside from revealing the new eligibility criteria, Rafizi also shared that the mechanism to implement targeted subsidies is almost ready, and that he is looking to submit his proposal to the Cabinet for a final decision as soon as possible. “We have been discussing this for the past six months, and the consensus is nearly reached,” he said, adding that he was actually scheduled to present the proposal two weeks back. However, that did not happen as Rafizi was hospitalised in mid-October due to a heart ailment.

Rafizi further said that the mechanism for rationalising diesel subsidies, in particular, is ready, but will only be announced during its implementation to prevent any premature repercussions. “That’s why we didn’t provide details in the budget speech. We are concerned that this could trigger inflationary speculation, leading to price increases,” he explained.

In addition to these details, Rafizi also noted that the government’s Central Database Hub (Padu) is already 72% complete as of October, with data from 29.8 million individuals having been uploaded into the system. For context, Padu is a digital repository that contains the socio-economic information of households across the country, and is meant to help the government channel subsidies and other assistances more effectively.

“The Padu development work began in June 2023 and is expected to be launched in January 2024. Once launched, Padu will be accessible to the public for verification for three months, facilitating the rationalisation of subsidies and other forms of government support,” said the minister, adding that the government also plans to propose an act that will allow the sharing of the data on Padu between all government agencies.

(Source: The Edge Malaysia)

• TAGS:
• Blanket Subsidies
• Central Database Hub (Padu)
• Diesel Subsidy
• Government Subsidies
• Rafizi Ramli
• Targeted Subsidies
• Targeted Subsidy Mechanism