KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 512,000 micro small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have applied for the second round of Prihatin aid, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said today.
Under the Prihatin Special Grant 2.0, a one-off payment of RM3,000 is given to micro SMEs to help kick-start their businesses amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The applications for the aid, open from Oct 1 to 31, will be vetted and cross-checked with the respective local authorities, he said.
“Those with more than five staff members will not have their applications approved as they do not meet the criteria,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat in response to a question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka), who wanted to know the number of applications, the criteria for approval and the reasons for unsuccessful applications.
Tengku Zafrul said applications without the Companies Commission of Malaysia certification or approval from local authorities would also not be entertained.
He said the applicants may check their approval status from Nov 27 and the aid will be paid out from Nov 30.
He also said that 545,000 micro SMEs had benefitted from the first Prihatin special grant, amounting to RM1.63 billion.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/11/19/512000-micro-smes-apply-for-second-round-of-prihatin-aid/