TAWAU, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Efforts to provide assistance to the people through the Basic Rahmah Contribution (SARA) programme remain the government's priority in preparing the 2027 Budget despite the current challenging global economic environment, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
He said the government through the budget would continue to provide allocation space for the targeted cash assistance programme next year to ease the burden of the people's cost of living, especially the needy.
"This effort is effective in helping those who may not have enough to meet the cost of living, so this is one of our priorities.
"In terms of how the government controls spending, it is an important matter through the implementation of targeted subsidies to increase the space for more effective programmes for the people and local entrepreneurs," he said.
He told reporters after reviewing the implementation of the SARA programme at a supermarket here today.
Amir Hamzah said the SARA programme has proven effective as the total allocation for SARA and the Rahmah Cash Contribution (STR) this year reached RM15 billion.
"Almost nine million SARA recipients with 99 per cent benefiting from it, thus proving that this programme truly reaches the target group at the grassroots level," he said.
Meanwhile, he said the Malaysian economy remained on a strong growth path despite facing uncertainties in the geopolitical and global economic situation.
He explained that the country's economic resilience was driven by the good reception of local export products as well as the stability of the domestic economic engine through spending consumers and investment inflows that remain competitive.
"This situation supports economic growth with the unemployment rate remaining low below three percent in addition to the inflation rate being controlled at 1.9 per cent through effective action plan initiatives," he said.
According to him, the implementation of the MADANI Economic framework has proven to be successful in continuously catalysing the growth of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
"Last year, the country's GDP growth recorded 5.2 per cent while for the first quarter of 2026 we recorded 5.4 per cent and increased to 6.0 per cent in the second quarter, making the average growth so far 5.7 per cent," he said.
-- BERNAMA