So the Budget 2020 was officially tabled in Parliament today (October 11th) and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has made a few important announcements. In the tabling of the country’s national budget, he has informed that they will increase the minimum wage to RM1,200 in major cities.
This is an increase from the previous amount of RM1,100 that was announced last year. The minimum wage in Malaysia before this was RM1,000 in Peninsular and RM920 in East Malaysia. Other initiatives to help the workforce in Malaysia include helping more women return to the workforce.
One of these is the Women@Work initiative or #WanitaKerja which focuses on creating 33,000 job opportunities a year for women aged between 30 and 50 years old who have not worked for more than a year. There will also be an incentive for these women as they will be given an incentive of RM500 a month for two years, on top of the salary they are already earning.
Employers will receive a monthly incentive of RM300 at the same time. In addition, the income tax exemptions for women returning to work will be extended for another four years until 2023.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Also read: Survey: 56% of Adults Have Trouble Sleeping at Night Because of Money Problems