DasLABUAN: PAS Deputy Chairman here, Hadnan Mohd, said the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) payout for next year should be increased to RM1,200.

"This is the right and realistic amount to help Malaysians troubled by the creeping inflation and feeling squeeze," he said.

Hadnan said over the months, prices of all items had gradually increased, and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, including price monitoring panels and consumer associations, have been helpless.

"Electricity, fuel, food items, room/house rentals, food and personal expenses have all increased. Even those with monthly income of RM3,000, once considered a comfort zone, stand on the threshold of being qualified to join the have-nots club due to the shrunken purchasing power in their earnings."

Hadnan said under the circumstances, the Government should offer more effective relief to ease the burden of the majority of Malaysians.

He said, after all, the situation was due to the failure of the Government to control inflation.

He added that a payout of RM1,200 under BR1M 4.0 would not be too financially taxing for the Government. All it needed to do is scrap the unnecessary spending, especially holding of ineffective programmes, unnecessary travel expenses and holding functions in expensive venues.

Hadnan noted that next year when the BR1M 4.0 is paid out, the cost of living would be even higher, with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) of six per cent.

He said the GST would bring in billions of ringgit into government coffers and "so I do not see any problem for the Government to make a bigger payout."

Under the Budget 2015 tabled recently, it was stated that BR1M assistance would be increased to RM950 from RM650 for households with a monthly income of below RM3,000 and for those between RM3,000 and RM4,000, the assistance would be increased to RM750 from RM450.

It was also suggested that the payment be made under three instalments of RM200 in January and May 2015 and the balance of RM350 in September 2015.

On this issue, Hadnan said the payout should be via two instalments as this would spare the recipients from the drudgery of waiting in long queues for hours only to get their payments.

Adding to this, Hadnan said many of the payment counters did not have facilities to handle a big crowd and the most affected were the elderly.

He said the BR1M recipients though were financially weak were intelligent enough to use the money wisely.

"They don't need to be advised by those rich experts on how they should use the money."