E-Wallet: MYR 450 Million Bounty

Malaysia's Budget 2020 includes an e-wallet incentive of MYR 30 (roughly equivalent to 30 USD/GBP/SGD in local purchasing power) for each citizen (over 18 and earning less than MYR 100K per year or MYR 8.3K per month). Though MYR 30 might not seem like much, the number of eligible recipients is estimated at 15 million, thus the total allocation comes up to MYR 450 million.

MYR 30 Can Buy
  • Food delivery: Meal for two (or gluttony for one)
  • Dine-in: Meal for two at a mall food court
  • E-hailing: Trip from KL to suburb
  • Express Rail: KL to Ipoh (one way) MYR35
  • Beer or Cigs: Two bottles or packets
  • Cinema: Tickets for two
  • Books: 3 books at BigBadWolf surplus store
  • Budget Stores: 5 items at Daiso | 12 items at Ninso
  • Groceries: 10 loaves of bread | 5 cartons of eggs | 30 apples
  • Fast Food: 3 Big Macs | 3 KFC 2-piece | 3 Subway Half-Foot
  • Street Food: 10 roti (flatbread) | 10 nasi lemak (spiced rice) + tea combo

Notes
  • The above assumes the MYR 30 is disbursed in one go (from Jan 1st, 2020).
  • If it is disbursed as, say, MYR 10 in 3 tranches, the MYR 30 could stretch further across a broader range of retailers.
  • Versus the MYR 30 spent in one go on KFC or a ride.
  • If cigs and beer are excluded, ewallets probably can't enforce this.
  • A household with two adults, one college-aged child and two gramps is eligible for MYR 150 (5 adults x MYR 30) in total incentives.
  • Merchants could be eligible for a MYR 5K matching grant to tool-up to accept epayments.
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