Malaysian leader also says petrol prices will be cut and highway toll rates frozen to address cost of living concerns.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced a package of measures aimed at easing the cost of living, including a 100 ringgit ($24) cash handout for all adult citizens.
In a televised address on Wednesday, Anwar said the assistance would benefit 22 million Malaysians and be redeemable at more than 4,000 stores from August 31 to December 31.
Anwar said the government would also reduce the price of subsidised petrol from 2.05 ringgit per liter (2.6 gallons) to 1.99 ringgit per liter for citizens, and freeze planned hikes in toll rates on 10 highways.
An extra public holiday will also be scheduled for 15 September this year to coincide with Malaysia Day, the holiday marking federation, Anwar said.
“Malaysian households, especially those in the low and middle-income groups, will welcome the cost-of-living relief provided by the measures,” Yeah Kim Leng, an economics professor at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, told Al Jazeera.
Lavanya Venkateswaran, senior economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, said the measures are line with government efforts to support growth, which she said is forecast to slow from an annualised 4.4 percent in the first half of 2025 to 3.5 percent in the second half.
“The fiscal package announced today, taken together with the central banks’ 25bps rate cut earlier in July, suggests that the authorities are stepping up counter-cyclical policies,” Venkateswaran told Al Jazeera.
Venkateswaran said the cash handouts would support household consumption “at the margin” and have a relatively nominal cost of 0.1 percent of gross domestic product.
Anwar’s announcement comes days before a planned rally in Kuala Lumpur to demand his resignation over rising living costs and his alleged failure to implement promised reforms.
Police have said they expect up to 15,000 people to attend Saturday’s protest organised by the opposition Perikatan Nasional coalition.
