The federal government is considering broadening the list of items allowed under the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) assistance programme to include frozen food, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the scheme’s implementation.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the proposal would first be evaluated by the SARA implementation team to determine its suitability before any formal decision is made.
Speaking during the winding-up session of the motion of thanks for the Royal Address for the Ministry of Finance in the Dewan Rakyat today, he indicated that an announcement could be made in the future should the expansion be approved. He added that the government remains open to refining the programme in line with recipients’ needs, especially amid rising living costs.
Amir Hamzah also highlighted strong progress in expanding SARA’s retail network, noting that the number of approved outlets had surged from 70 in 2024 to around 10,000 last year. Of this total, about 3,000 are small neighbourhood grocery shops, reflecting growing grassroots participation.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a target to raise the number of small grocery shops involved in the scheme from 3,000 to 10,000 by the end of this year. Amir Hamzah said the move would further open doors for small traders and retailers to benefit from the SARA ecosystem, while strengthening local supply chains.
On programme effectiveness, he said SARA’s utilisation rate remains encouraging, with 99 per cent of beneficiaries experiencing no issues in accessing or using the assistance, including in terms of outlet availability. Such figures, he added, point to growing public confidence in targeted aid delivery mechanisms.
Touching on targeted subsidies, Amir Hamzah stressed that the government is rolling them out cautiously to ensure assistance reaches those who genuinely qualify. He cited the Budi Madani RON95 initiative as an example of efforts to curb leakages and ensure public funds are prioritised for citizens’ welfare.
In this context, he said Putrajaya does not agree with calls to reject the use of MyKad for the distribution of social aid and subsidies, as the system helps ensure that benefits are channelled exclusively to Malaysian citizens.
