The Rahmah Basic Contribution (SARA) programme recorded RM102.5 million in sales on its eighth day, involving 1.7 million recipients as of 9.30 pm on Saturday.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said the system maintained a 99.9 percent success rate for two consecutive days following upgrades to its processing capacity.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, speaking at the Madani Rakyat 2025 programme in Baling, said the initiative must be seen as part of a wider effort to reduce hardship.
“Some may say RM100 is too little, but this comes on top of other programmes. In total we are providing RM15 billion to nine million people,”
he said.
He added that support for low-income households remained central to government policy, recalling that Baling was long associated with poverty and hardship.
“The measure of our success is how fairly we can share growth and ensure comfort for those most marginalised,” he said.
Anwar also pointed to food cartels as a factor keeping prices high, saying the government was prepared to act against groups controlling supplies of chicken, eggs and other essentials.
MOF said enforcement under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 could be used if traders were found to be raising prices unfairly.
Since the launch of the SARA Appreciation on 31 August, more than 11.8 million Malaysians have used their credits to buy essential goods, with total spending over the first week amounting to RM745.7 million nationwide.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Malaysia, based on image by Freepik
