143,224 have benefitted from Malaysia's Skills and Skills Enhancement Programme as of 7 May 2021

At the same time, a total of 322,177 employers and 2.64mn employees have received Wage Subsidy benefits under the PRIHATIN and PENJANA packages.

As of May 7 2021, a total of 143,224 participants had been approved (compared to 143,004 on the previous week) to participate in the programmes provided under Malaysia's Skills and Skills Enhancement Programme, the Ministry of Finance's 53^rd LAKSANA Report has revealed.

These include initiatives such as SME Development provided by HRDCorp, Micro Connector under the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry, and more, as detailed in the report. 

A total of 322,177 employers have benefitted from Wage Subsidy benefits

The report also revealed that as of 7 May, a total of 322,177 employers and 2.64mn employees in Malaysia have received Wage Subsidy benefits under the PRIHATIN and PENJANA packages. In this period, the total amount of approved wage subsidy applications reached a total value of RM12.888bn.

Lastly, the report also noted the following support provided for specific sectors:

Arts, culture and entertainment sector

To further support this sector, the government has allocated a total of RM10mn under the CENDANA initiative, which is expected to benefit about 3,000 active recipients.

Recipients of this benefit will receive different grant sizes, depending on their application and the targetted programme involved. As of 7 May, a total of RM3.42mn has been distributed to 500 recipients (compared to RM3.30mn distributed to 477 recipients on the previous week).

The beneficiaries (artisans) are mostly from Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Johor and Kedah, while those who are artists and administrative workers are mostly from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, Perak, Sabah and Sarawak, comprising 49% of individuals, 28% of collectives and 23% of organisations.

Frontliner support and allowances

The report also added that in support of those at the forefront of fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, a total of RM717.04mn has been channelled as of 7 May, based on 1,996,103 claims, to doctors, nurses and other medical staff who are directly involved.

Further, the allowance was extended to members of the military, police, customs, immigration, firefighters, members of the Civil Defence Force and RELA members who are directly involved in the MCO implementation.

Photo / 53^rd LAKASANA Report, MOF