News & Reviews:   Ministry of Finance

Telekom Malaysia (TM) has announced that it is currently in the final negotiation stage with Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) for the 5G single wholesale network agreement in our country. During a media briefing today, TM is confident that it will meet the 31 August 2022 deadline set by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) for said agreement as well as the equity agreement to become a DNB shareholder.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz today revealed that foreign telecommunication companies are ‘queuing up’ for access to Malaysia’s 5G single wholesale network under his ministry’s Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB). However, he said that local established telcos should be given the first bite. 

The Minister of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM), Tan Sri Annuar Musa has reassured Malaysians that the government is committed to provide free tablets for B40 students under the PerantiSiswa Keluarga Malaysia initiative. During a press conference in Parliament earlier today, Annuar clarified that the distribution of the tablets will be delayed to August 2022 due to tender issues.

Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa has announced a delay to the rollout of free tablets to B40 students under the PerantiSiswa Keluarga Malaysia programme. Initially set to be distributed in mid-June, the timeline is shifted to mid-July instead after the tender for the initial supplier of the devices was cancelled by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Remember the ePemula programme announced two weeks ago? It's this year's version of the eBelia programme from last year and aims to distribute RM300 million to Malaysian youths. Well, it's time to save that allowance because the programme is starting soon.

The Finance Ministry (MOF) in a statement yesterday announced that around 2 million Malaysian youths will receive an RM150 e-wallet credit starting this mid-April. Part of the government’s ePemula scheme, those that are eligible include youths aged 18 to 20 as well as full-time students in higher learning institutions.

Furthermore, those eligible would get to enjoy the benefit through one of four e-wallet providers, which are BigPay, GrabPay, ShopeePay and Touch ’n Go. MOF said that the four e-wallet service providers have a network of 1.2 million retailers in Malaysia.

Many of you may have heard of it by now, but if you didn't, the government is launching a new programme called e-Pemula. The plan is to distribute a total of RM300 million to Malaysians in the form of e-wallet credits. Of course, there's a stipulation on who gets to benefit from this.

It looks like Malaysia won’t be recognising cryptocurrency as legal tender anytime soon as despite the urging to do so by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM). Previously, K-KOMM deputy minister called crypto ‘the future of finance’ and urged for the relevant authorities to held discussions in order to legalise it.

However, the proposal was unceremoniously turned down by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) confirmed that the federal government has no intention of recognising crypto as legal tender. This was asserted by the ministry’s first deputy minister, Shahar Abdullah in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Our government is back with another financial aid with the initiative to encourage cashless spending among youths and full-time students at registered local institutions of higher learning (IPT). Besides that, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) also hopes that it could ease the financial burden of the target group.