FORMER finance minister Daim Zainuddin said the government is considering setting up a basic monthly income fund for the poor, to replace the former administration’s BR1M programme of cash handouts, Bloomberg reports.

Daim, who is chairman of the Council of Eminent Persons, said last year, the government spent about RM37 billion on subsidies, various kinds of aid, and BR1M, adding that the money could have instead been channeled to such a fund for monthly payouts to the poor.