PM: Govt allocated billions in subsidies

> Do not listen to rumours that Barisan Nasional not providing for people, says Najib

PETALING JAYA: The Barisan Nasional government allocates tens of billions of ringgit each year for various forms of subsidies, and any claims to the contrary are lies, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

He said he was aware of the grouses of the rakyat in asking the government to provide subsidies to reduce the cost of living.

“The government spends a huge amount of money on subsidies in various sectors.

“Please do not listen to accusations that the government does not provide any form of subsidies for the rakyat because all those are not true at all,” he said in a blog post yesterday.

Najib, who is also finance minister, said for one, the government has allocated RM3.9 billion under the recently announced Budget 2018 for subsidies on transportation and goods such as cooking gas and oil, and flour.

He said subsidies were also being given for electricity and tolls to avoid rates being increased, while a huge amount is also allocated for the health sector annually.

“For 2018, RM26.5 billion is allocated for healthcare despite the sector only collecting RM600 million. The rest are fully borne by the government.

“Additionally, since 2012, fees for public schools have been fully exempted, while the government also funds about 90% of public university fees,” he said.

Najib pointed out that the fee for medical programmes would cost RM289,885, but students only needed to pay RM9,000 after government subsidies.

For the housing sector, Najib said subsidy in the form of deposit aid was given through the MyDeposit Scheme, while affordable housing was also available through the Public Housing Programme and Felda Second Generation Homes, among others.