Malaysia raises Employment Retention Programme budget to RM240 million
- Daniel Teo
The Malaysian government has doubled the allocation for the Employment Retention Programme (ERP) from RM120 million to RM240 million.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said this will help support more businesses and protect jobs as SMEs who were not able to apply for the funds previously would be able to do so now.
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The ERP provides a financial aid of RM600 a month for six months to workers on unpaid leave.
It was introduced as part of the expanded Prihatin stimulus package to help businesses cope with their loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the movement control order imposed to contain the spread of the disease locally.
As of the end of April, Tengku Zafrul said more than 52,000 workers have been approved and have received the financial assistance under the ERP.
