Gobind said his ministry worked closely with the finance ministry to expedite the settlement of all outstanding claims.

“I am pleased to confirm that all payments, totalling RM19 million, were successfully credited to the respective companies through Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN),” he said in a statement today.

Last month, the government agreed to expedite payments of the outstanding funds after the National Tech Association of Malaysia (Pikom) complained that more than 70% of claims under the programme remained unpaid beyond six months.

Gobind had then said the claims would be paid by the end of April .

Pikom chairman Alex Liew said the payments were originally supposed to be made between one and two weeks. He said the delayed payouts would place considerable strain on both the service providers and the MSMEs.

More than 10,000 micro, small and medium enterprises had adopted digital solutions through more than 400 digitalisation partners under the grant.