Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (Source: themalaysianinsider)
Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the recalibrated State budget for 2016 means to ensure the economy is still in the strong growth orbit, and guarantee social welfare of the citizens.

The budget adjustment is reflected in 11 measures, mainly to mitigate the impacts of the increasing cost of living.

The measures include reducing labourers’ contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) by 3 percent from March 2016 to December 2017, and providing special tax relief to individual taxpayers with a monthly income of 8,000 RM or below.

They also aim to reduce the costs of basic necessities and develop projects on affordable houses, hospitals, schools, roads and public transport.

According to Prime Minister Najib, the Government has trimmed its GDP growth forecast for 2016 to 4-4.5 percent from 4-5 percent.-VNA