RM280 bln ‘Mother of All Budgets’
KUALA LUMPUR: With the country buttressed by a sound economy, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday tabled a comprehensive 2018 “Mother of All Budgets” that provides various incentives and goodies for all the people.
The Prime Minister and Finance Minister said the RM280.25 billion budget took into account the interests of yet-to-born Malaysians right up to the agendas for the future of the nation.
The budget has benefits for, among others, farmers, fishermen, taxi drivers, Felda settlers, civil servants and retirees, highway users, the Chinese and Indian communities, Orang Asli, youths and students.
“This is a budget that has never been crafted so well, since I took over the leadership of the country, because it is holistic and full of philosophy,” Najib said in his address to Parliament of almost three hours on the theme ‘Prospering an Inclusive Economy, Balancing between Worldly and Hereafter, For the Wellbeing of Rakyat, Towards the TN50 Aspiration’.
He said that over the past eight years he had been coerced into making difficult decisions by focusing on economic initiatives as the agenda of national transformation.
As a result, the country’s international reserves have recorded RM428.7 billion compared to RM59.1 billion during the 1997 economic downturn.
Najib said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) had proven to be the saviour of the national economy.
Implementing the GST was a bold step taken by the government and ultimately it had provided justification, he said.
On the contrary, he said, the political opposition had up to now been wavering on whether to accept GST or otherwise and sometimes spoke of wanting to reintroduce the Sales and Service Tax (SST).
“In fact, the GST saved the economy this year, where without the RM41 billion collected we cannot imagine how the nation can cater for the needs of the rakyat,” he said.
Najib criticised the opposition, saying they were inconsistent and often made ‘U-turns’ when talking about programmes and incentives implemented by the government for the people’s well-being.
“What we hear are U-turns and more U-turns, so much so that the people are confused and their minds poisoned,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the opposition were also divided over the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M), PTPTN study loans and fuel subsidies which they supported at times and sought to have abolished at other times.
On the whole, Budget 2018 listed 233 incentives and programmes under eight thrusts.
These programmes, Najib said, were for the benefit of all Malaysians regardless of race and background. The target groups include Malaysian babies who will be born between Jan 1, 2018, and 2022, who will be awarded RM200 as an initial savings fund known as Amanah Dana Anak Malaysia 2050 or ADAM50.
Najib had good news for the 2.3 million tax payers, especially those in the M40 group or specifically mid-income range households with income of less than RM9,000.
He announced an individual income tax rate reduction of two percentage points for the income tax band between RM20,000 and RM70,000, thus increasing the disposable income of the people by between RM300 and RM1,000. With this measure, more than 261,000 individuals will no longer be subjected to income tax.
The budget also allocated RM3.9 billion for goods and transport subsidies, including cooking gas, flour, cooking oil, electricity and toll. Najib also said that the 1Malaysia People’s Shops (KR1M) would be restructured as KR1M 2.0 which would provide five basic necessities at low prices, namely rice, sugar, cooking oil, flour and cooking gas, while 50 branded consumer goods would be sold at lower-than-market prices.
The other good news is the abolition of toll collection at four locations, namely Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasau in Selangor, Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah and at the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor.
About RM50 million is being allocated for haemodialysis assistance with a subsidy of RM100 from the overall treatment cost of RM110 per session, meaning that from 2018, registered patients will only have to pay RM10 for each session, said Najib.
In line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0, all registered taxi drivers who wish to shift to ehailing application will get a grant amounting to RM5,000 for the purchase of a new car.