KUALA LUMPUR — A second rollout of RM100 one-off cash aid under Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) to all adult Malaysians regardless of income status next year shows Putrajaya’s move to embed compassion into national fiscal reform, an economist said.
Universiti Teknologi Petronas adjunct lecturer Samirul Ariff Othman said while it was easy to dismiss the initiative as a populist ploy, it showed that the government was “institutionalising compassion through structure”.
“(It shows) SARA (becoming) a permanent social instrument within Malaysia’s targeted subsidy ecosystem,” the economist told Scoop, adding that its universal nature went “beyond relief” to a “message of shared dignity”.
Budget 2026 tabled yesterday announced that a second round of RM100 one-off aid under SARA will be issued to 22 million Malaysians in February 2026, ahead of Ramadan and Chinese New Year.
The SARA programme began in 2024 for hardcore poor and poor households, but a pilot rollout to all Malaysians aged 18 and above was implemented on August 31 this year via MyKad.
Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who tabled Budget 2026 yesterday, said more than 70% of the first SARA ‘appreciation’ initiative had been spent, and unused balance which expired on December 31 this year would be re-distributed to future aid programmes.
Samirul said the move conveyed a message that “social justice is not a seasonal slogan but a systematic entitlement anchored in data and fiscal integrity”.
Acknowledging the emotional appeal of cash transfers, Samirul said SARA plays a key economic role in maintaining social stability and public confidence during Malaysia’s fiscal transition, ensuring that reform measures such as subsidy rationalisation do not disproportionately burden lower-income groups.
“Politically, yes, there is an emotive element. SARA humanises a budget that could otherwise be seen as technical or austere. But more importantly, it serves as the social cushion that makes reform possible,” he said.
“You cannot remove blanket subsidies or tighten fiscal policy without compensating the groups that feel the impact most. SARA ensures that the Madani reform agenda remains socially sustainable.”
He said that dismissing SARA 2.0 as a mere election tactic would miss its deeper significance.
“To call it merely a ‘feel-good’ pre-election measure would miss the structural shift it represents. SARA is not a cash-handout gimmick; it is the social equity valve of a broader fiscal-reform machine,” he said.
He added that Anwar Ibrahim is sending a dual message that the state must remain empathetic even in austerity, and that savings from subsidy rationalisation and corruption control should be translated into transparent public benefit.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Daniel Kittu, senior researcher at the Social & Economic Research Initiative (SERI), told Scoop the decision to continue and expand SARA likely responds to strong public reception from its first rollout.
“It is likely that he (Anwar) is responding to the general positive feedback from the first round of the SARA aid,” Kittu said.
“As to whether it is a feel-good measure, the government likely sees the need to keep the rakyat happy, regardless of whether an election is coming.”
He pointed out that in a time of rising public discontent globally, policies that clearly benefit households can bolster legitimacy and social stability.
“Especially with cash aid, it provides people with some degree of choice on what they want to prioritise for spending, making it an effective form of government aid,” he said. – October 11, 2025