KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Youths aged 18 to 20 as well as full-time students at higher learning institutions will receive a one-off RM150 e-wallet credit through the e-Start programme, a cashless transaction scheme.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the programme will benefit more than 2 million youths in the country with an allocation of RM300 million.
“…it is (hoped) that the youths who benefit from this programme will make good use of it by purchasing useful books and learning equipment,” he said when tabling the national Budget 2022 at Dewan Rakyat today.
Tengku Zafrul said RM159 million is also allocated to build, upgrade and maintain sports facilities throughout the country, apart from RM10 million to be channelled to the National Sports Council to improve training programmes for disabled athletes and implement the disabled Sports League.
In an effort to encourage the people to be active again post-COVID-19, he said RM50 million is allocated to implement programmes such as cultivating an active lifestyle, Fit Forever and the National Sports Day.
“To boost the growth of e-Sports, RM20 million is provided for the development of national e-Sports, including RM5 million to create a Drone Sports Centre of Excellence.
“The government also intends to provide income tax exemption on prize money for eligible e-sports tournament winnings,” he said.
Meanwhile, the finance minister also called on private companies to provide an allowance of at least RM900 to students undergoing industrial training programmes at their companies following the government’s move that has been in force since 2019.
The government will also provide a monthly incentive of RM900 for a period of six months to employers who hire graduates and school leavers aged between 18 and 30 as apprentices, compared to RM800 previously.
“The government intends to extend the tax incentives for the Structured Industrial Training Programme until 2025 assessment year, which will also be expanded to include students at the Master’s Degree, Professional Certificate and Malaysian Skills Certificate 1 and 2 levels,” he said.
