The government has increased the monthly subsidised RON95 petrol quota under the BUDI95 programme from 200 litres to 300 litres, with the new limit taking effect on Sept 1.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the increase during his Merdeka Eve address, saying the move would benefit more than 16 million users.
At the same time, the monthly subsidised diesel quota under the BUDI Diesel programme will rise from 300 litres to 400 litres. More than 500,000 eligible owners of diesel-powered pickup trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles are expected to benefit.
The BUDI95 quota had previously been reduced from 300 litres to 200 litres from April 1 as a temporary measure amid rising global crude oil prices and supply chain disruptions linked to the conflict in West Asia. Anwar had said the move was intended to ease the government’s fiscal burden.
The Prime Minister also announced a 50% increase in next year’s allocation for the maintenance of all types of schools, raising the amount from RM1 billion to RM1.5 billion.
The funding will cover national schools, Chinese and Tamil national-type schools, religious schools, tahfiz and pondok institutions, as well as special education facilities. The Education Ministry has been instructed to review infrastructure repair applications in every district so that maintenance works can begin as early as January.
In another initiative, the AI for the People programme will be expanded to Malaysians aged between 18 and 30. Anwar said 100,000 youths who successfully complete the required modules would receive free three-month subscriptions to leading artificial intelligence applications.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission will also allocate RM1 billion to improve digital capabilities across the public healthcare sector.
The funding will support the implementation of electronic medical records and improve internet connectivity at 150 hospitals and more than 2,000 public health clinics.
Businesses will also receive relief under changes to the e-Invoice system, with the annual sales threshold for exemption raised from RM1 million to RM3 million. Companies recording annual sales of RM3 million or below will therefore not be required to implement e-Invoicing.
The government is further increasing microfinancing facilities by RM1 billion, bringing total funding for 2026 to RM6 billion compared with RM5 billion previously.
A separate RM200 million grant will also be introduced to support hawkers, small traders, night market operators and mothers running businesses from home.
All the announced measures will take effect from Sept 1, marking a broad package of assistance covering fuel subsidies, education, digitalisation, healthcare and small businesses.
