RM200 Unit Trust Incentive For Newborn Babies Will Be Discontinued By End Of The Year
Only 25% of babies born this year were registered for the ADAM50 initiative.
By Alyssa J. Oon — 21 Dec 2018, 04:52 PM
Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) group chairman Tan Seri Zeti Akhtar Aziz announced today, 21 December, that the Amanah Dana Anak Malaysia 2050 (ADAM50) will be discontinued by the end of this year
Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) group chairman Tan Seri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Image via Choo Choy May/Malay MailThe one-off unit trust incentive was launched by PNB on 1 January. It was meant to run until 31 December 2022.
Under the scheme, babies born between 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2022 would receive an initial savings of RM200 worth of unit trust, which would be credited into the Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account for Bumiputera babies or the Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) account for non-Bumiputera babies.
Zeti said that response to the scheme had been relatively low, with only 25% of babies born this year registered for the incentive
Malay Mail quoted Zeti as saying, "The government allocated RM10 million for this purpose and the fund has been fully utilised. Given the fact that the current government's financial position needs to be strengthened, it would not be able to allocate further funds."
"So, all the excess of the RM10 million provided by the government, PNB has been providing an allocation of RM10-20 million to honour the initiative," she added.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had previously mulled the abolishment of the scheme
In a New Straits Times report on 26 June, Dr Wan Azizah said, "I will discuss with Finance Minister (Lim Guan Eng) as it involves funds and the country is facing financial burden."
"I cannot promise it (ADAM50) will be continued."