ON average, over RM300 is spent on every Malaysian for Covid-19 related expenses based on the current population of 32.7 million people, says the Finance Ministry.

       In line with the amendments to increase the Kumpulan Wang Covid-19 (KWC-19) ceiling limit from RM65bil to RM110bil, the ministry said the government raised the expenditure from RM5bil to RM9bil to ensure that there was enough allocation provided for Covid-19-related issues.

       For expenses related to the vaccine and the implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), it said the government allocated RM6.8bil that was funded through the KWC-19 and the National Trust Fund.

       “Generally, the government has allocated RM15.8bil for Covid-19 related purposes.

       “As at Feb 28, under the KWC-19, RM4.6bil has been spent on Covid-19 related expenditure including the cost to operate quarantine centres, personal protective equipment, reagents, consumables, clinical and medical supplies, Covid-19 special allowance and various costs to curb transmission.

       “This involves various ministries, departments, agencies including the Health Ministry, teaching hospitals under the Higher Education Ministry, military hospitals under the Defence Ministry, National Disaster Management Agency and others that are involved in the Covid-19 monitoring operation,” it said in a written reply.

       For expenditure relating to vaccines and PICK, it said that RM5.7bil had been spent on the operation of the vaccination centres, outsourcing, special allowance payments, as well as related operating costs, bringing the total expenditure to RM10.3bil.