KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians nationwide have spent RM536.9 million so far, six days after the rollout of SARA, the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah Appreciation Aid program launched on Aug 31.

Finance Ministry, in a statement, said the purchases were made smoothly and transaction rate remained stable at 99 percent as of 9.30 pm last Friday.

“Efforts to improve and expand the system’s processing capacity over the past five days have contributed to the stability achieved today.

“Overall, since the launch of the SARA Appreciation Aid Program on Aug 31, more than 8.3 million people have purchased essential goods using the SARA Appreciation Aid and monthly SARA credits, with total public spending over six days reaching RM536.9 million nationwide,” the statement said.

Supermarkets nationwide have extended business hours during the long weekend to meet the shoppers’ demand of spending using SARA credits.

In Kuantan, a visit to several supermarkets showed that the MyKasih system was stable.

The large number of shoppers were using SARA credits to purchase with MyKad on a daily basis.

To make up for the technical glitch experienced on the first and second day after SARA was rollout, some supermarkets extended business hours to make up for the inconvenience caused due to shoppers.

Mydin Kuantan branch manager Hasnah Nadir said arrangements were made to recall staff to work as business hours were extended to cope with the large shopping crowd during the long weekend.

A total of 50 outlets of Mydin nationwide extend its business hours starting from 7am to 1am from Sep 5 to 7.

“As the MyKasih system was not stable earlier, many shoppers were unable to use MyKad to purchase. Now that the system is stable, Malaysians make good use of the long weekend to shop,’’ she said.

The number of people who purchased via SARA to donate the essential goods have also picked up, she said.

SARA is a one-off RM100 cash assistance for eligible Malaysians which can be used from Aug 31 to Dec 31.