Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. (Source: Xinhua/VNA) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia set a goal of building a safer, more prosperous and equal society and expanding its economy by 4-5 percent in 2016, said Prime Minister Najib Razak in his New Year message.
The Malaysian government “will not hesitate to take the tough, necessary and right decisions, even if they are not popular,” in order to protect its people from terrorism and ensure a bright future is the “birthright of every Malaysian”, the PM said.
He stated he acknowledges that many Malaysians have been hit hard by rising prices and worried about good jobs for themselves and for their children.
It is the reason his government reduced taxes for middle-income families, raised minimum wage and increased the distribution of BR1M (1Malaysia’s People’s Aid) welfare payments in the budget for 2016, Razak explained.
Other efforts include the building of 175,000 new units of affordable housing and the allocation of 41.3 billion RM (9.6 billion USD) to enhance the quality of education.
“Strengthening the resilience of the economy, managing the impact of external vulnerabilities and safeguarding the interests of the people are the government’s priorities for 2016”, the leader said.
The government will continue to closely review and monitor its policies and programmes to ensure they bring clear benefits to the people, he said, adding that no Malaysian will be left behind.-VNA
