People friendly budget
PH's first budget formulated to help people, ensure national development, restore fiscal position of the country within three years
We are truly fortunate to have been given the trust, support and opportunity for the Pakatan Harapan Government to reshape the administration of this nation in a more developed, competitive and transparent manner. Lim Guan Eng, Finance Minister
KUALA LUMPUR: In the face of various challenges, particularly the burden of national debt and an uncertain world economy, the Pakatan Harapan government yesterday unveiled its peoplefriendly maiden Budget 2019 which is believed can overcome the economic challenges and chart a brighter future.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, saying the PH government will not neglect the trust placed in it by the people through the 14th general election, presented a budget totalling RM314.5 billion with the determination to help the people, ensure national development and, most importantly, to restore the fi scal position of the country within three years.
“Indeed, we are truly fortunate to have been given the trust, support and opportunity for the Pakatan Harapan Government to reshape the administration of this nation in a more developed, competitive and transparent manner,” he said.
The budget Lim tabled in the Dewan Rakyat carried the theme “A Resurgent Malaysia, A Dynamic Economy, A Prosperous Society”.
The presentation of Budget 2019 created history as it is the first budget of the PH government after it took over the administration of the country following its victory in GE14 on May 9, ending the 61year dominance of the Barisan Nasional.
Budget 2019 is the first by the PH government led by Tun Dr Ma hath ir Mohamad as the Prime Minister after he came out of retirement to helm the administration at the age of 93 after having retired in 2003 following a 22-year rule as the fourth prime minister of the country.
The PH government has given importance in Budget 2019 to assistance for the low- income people with the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) aid of between RM500 and RM1,000 for households with a monthly income of RM4,000 and below.
An improvement to the BSH aid is the RM120 payment for every child aged 18 and below, limited to four children, in a household with a monthly income of RM2,000 and below.
The budget a lso brought cheer to civi l servants and government pensioners when the PH government, emulating the tradition of providing special payments, offered RM500 to civil servants on Grade 54 and below and RM250 to the pensioners.
This of fer to the estimated 1.6 million civil servants and pensioners, involving an allocation of RM1 billion, will be paid by the end of this year.
The budget is also packed with proposals for subsidies, among them a monthly RM40 electricity bill subsidy benefiting 185,000 accounts; a 30 sen per litre RON95 petrol subsidy for 100 litres for cars below 1500 cc or for 40 litres for motorcycles of 125 cc, benefiting four million car owners and 2.6 million motorcycle owners.
A good news for motorcyclists is the abolition of toll for motorcycles on both the Penang Bridge and the Linkedua in Johor from next year.
To increase the utilisation of public transport, the government will allocate RM240 million to introduce a RM100 unlimited public transport pass, to kick off initially on the RapidKL rail and bus network on Jan 1, 2019.
The budget does not propose increase in taxes or the imposition of new taxes which can burden the people, and the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax ( GST) and re-introduction of the Sales and Service Tax ( SST) on Sept 1 has seen a reduction in the prices of many goods.
Lim said the taxes have been imposed in other sectors, among them for gaming which has not seen any rise since 2005, with a rise in fees and levies on casino licence and gaming machines.
The Finance Minister said the PH government is determined to nurse the Malaysian economy back to the original state when it was known as an Asian Tiger.
He said Budget 2019 will meet its objective with three focus areas – implementing institutional reforms; ensuring the socioeconomic wellbeing of Malaysians and fostering an entrepreneurial economy – and 12 key strategies.
Lim said Malaysia, unlike under the previous administration, is now fortunate to have the leadership of Dr Mahathir who has become an inspiration for the world and can overcome all challenges.
He said the world’s confidence in Dr Mahathir was reflected in the Japan government willingness to offer to guarantee about RM7.4 billion ( 200 billion Japanese Yen) for the issuance of 10-year bonds.
At the conclusion of his almost 140-minute speech, Lim expressed appreciation for the people of Malaysia of all races for having supported the PH leadership and administration by toppling the kleptocratic BN government.
“The choice made by the people has been proven correct yet again yesterday after two former Goldman Sachs bankers, Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, were arrested and charged by the US Justice Department.
“These are the unscrupulous bankers who engineered the US$ 6.5 billion or RM26 billion of 1MDB bonds, by colluding with thieves in Malaysia to steal from the people of Malaysia,” he said.
In ending his speech, Lim quoted an Islamic saying ‘Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar’ and called on those who have strayed to return to the righteous path.