KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 — An estimated 5.6 million recipients eligible for the monthly SARA aid have been recorded, with total entitlements reaching RM5 billion a year, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
He said that as of December 17, nearly 5.6 million SARA recipients — including newly approved recipients — have utilised their MyKad to purchase basic goods at registered outlets, reflecting a 99 per cent usage rate, with total spending amounting to RM4.59 billion.
“As for the one‑off SARA Appreciation payment to over 22 million adult Malaysians, more than 20 million people have spent the funds, or 92 per cent of all recipients, with spending exceeding RM1.91 billion,” he told the Dewan Negara during today’s question and answer session.
Amir Hamzah was responding to Senator Mohd Hasbie Muda regarding the Finance Ministry’s long‑term measures to ensure targeted subsidies can be implemented without technical issues related to the misuse of MyKad for SARA aid.
The minister stated that the SARA payment system’s capacity has been significantly improved to handle the surge in transactions following the rollout of the SARA Appreciation payment and the monthly Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah cash assistance.
“Based on current performance, the system can handle 7,000 transactions per minute compared with 2,700 transactions per minute previously and will reach 10,000 transactions per minute after system upgrades at the end of 2025.
“At present, the average transactions per minute is 1,000, taking into account system stability and purchases made by recipients,” he added.
Amir Hamzah said the government does not see any significant challenges in utilising the SARA aid, given the high usage rates recorded so far.
“For monthly SARA expenditures, any remaining credit cannot be carried over to the next year. However, since the usage level has exceeded 90 per cent, this is not expected to cause any issues,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Mohd Hasbie.
