Samenta lauds govt’s RM500 million GKP 4.0 aid to help micro businesses

KUALA LUMPUR: Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) welcomes the government’s RM500 million stimulus injection in the form of Geran Khas Prihatin (GKP) 4.0 to help micro-businesses nationwide.

SAMENTA central chairman Datuk William Ng said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were far from being out of the woods and required significant support from the government such as the GKP 4.0 which is part of the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (PEMULIH).

“The wage subsidy and rehiring incentives under the country’s PEMULIH package should stay until June 2022 at the very least, so that cash generated from operations can be plowed back into paying off debts, maintenance of equipment, and stocking up on raw materials and supplies,” he told Bernama.

SAMENTA is also hopeful that the Finance Ministry will follow through with the announcement of an interest-free moratorium to also include SMEs and not just individuals, added Ng.

On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said payments for GKP4.0, involving existing and new recipients, will have a financial implication of RM500 million to the government.

He said the assistance will benefit more than one million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with the aim of easing their financial burden during this challenging period. The prime minister also said the total allocation that has been channelled and will be distributed to almost one million MSMEs under GKP amounted to RM6.08 billion since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.

Under PEMULIH, the GKP 4.0 scheduled payouts of RM500 will be made beginning September this year and another RM500 in November this year.

Recipients can check the approval status of GKP 4.0 starting from September 20, 2021, on the GKP portal.