A Ringgit banknote of Malaysia (Photo: Reuters) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim on February 24 submitted a 2023 revised budget plan draft with a record estimate of 388.1 billion RM (87.2 billion USD).
His predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin proposed to the country’s parliament a budget of 372.3 billion in October 2022 just three days before the parliament was dissolved to pave the way for the general election.
Under Anwar’s spending plan, 74.8% of the proposed revised budget will be used for operational spending, and the remaining 25.2% for development spending. The budget 2023 will focus on addressing the high cost of living, further strengthening the social safety network and the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) ecosystem.
The government will also consider ways to reduce market disruptions and streamline business processes through the adoption of high technology and digitalisation, protecting people's livelihoods, maintaining integrity, raising awareness of a caring and compassionate society, and improving the efficiency of public and private sector distribution systems.
The three ministries with the most budget allocations are the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Education. The budgets for the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Defense also increased compared to the previous draft, 18.5 billion RM and 17.7 billion RM respectively, to enhance national security.
The expenditure draft also includes many support packages such as increasing New Year bonuses for civil servants; tax reduction for a group of middle-income households (M40); cash support for low-income households (B40), food carts, computers for university students from those households; reducing Internet charges and support families with five children or more.
After the revised draft 2023 budget is submitted to the parliament, delegates will have 30 days to debate. It is expected that the draft budget will be approved before the parliament’s second session wraps up on March 30./.
