Johari said the additional BR1M payout was derived from the hike in oil prices, which improved to US$67 per barrel compared with US$52 per barrel when Budget 2018 was tabled last October.

“We decided to give the BR1M because we have extra income due to the current oil price, which is more than what we budgeted for in October.

“Hence, we will return it to the people, namely BR1M recipients and those in the income group of between RM4,000 and RM5,000,” he said after attending an event here today.

CIMB Investment Bank had earlier said the additional BR1M payout would cost RM3.71 billion or 0.25% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product for this year.

Johari added that the World Bank’s revised projection of the economy’s growth to 5.4% for 2018 proved that the country had solid economic fundamentals, with the ringgit also strengthening.

“However, Malaysia’s economic growth is still subject to external factors. So far, I don’t see any impact from the trade war between the US and China.

“But whether we like it or not, Malaysia is a small country and still subject to it. We will try to find strategies to counter this,” he added.