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NOT a day goes by when Malaysians are reminded of the widespread hardships that have impacted society as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The news of the high number of Covid-19 cases has shaken confidence in job security and the reduction in spending has become a detriment to individuals and businesses.
For those who are struggling to make ends meet, it came as no surprise when the government allocated RM305bil from the time the pandemic began to affect Malaysia and the world, and the budget presented yesterday contained many proposals continuing the efforts. ongoing to combat the many facets. lives and livelihoods of Malaysians and businesses in the country.
This is not a time for fiscal responsibility, and that has been the reaction around the world. Governments have injected trillions of dollars to keep economies around the world afloat as the world faces its worst crisis since the Great Depression.
Malaysia is not alone in this and has planned to spend RM322.5bil in 2021, with spending estimated at RM314.7bil this year.
Government revenues have been affected and are estimated to be RM227.3 billion this year and rise to RM236.9 billion in line with a rebound in economic growth of between 6.5% and 7.5% next year after contracting 4.5% this year.
Development spending allocated by the government is $ 69 billion, the largest in history.
The size of the budget serves to show what is needed to keep the economy going in 2021 and not to slip back into a recession that will have negative implications for everyone.
However, the order in which the proposals were presented was revealing.
The Budget is packed with proposals that aim to continue much of what has been done to combat the disease and preserve the well-being of Malaysians, and it also aims to do more to get the economy back on the path of Recovery and Revitalization of focus. 6R adopted. to lift Malaysia from the harmful effects of the pandemic.
By raising the Covid-19 Fund from RM20bil to RM65bil and also by allocating RM1bil to fight the third wave of the pandemic, money is being put towards keeping the disease under control.
A large amount of money that is allocated to the preservation of jobs and the extension of specific repayment assistance after the general loan moratorium ends shows that special attention is needed to help the most vulnerable group, the B40.
Allowing people to retire from Account 1 of their EPF accounts is a tough decision to make as there are consequences to your retirement package, but now is not the time to worry about any post-work happiness if people can’t. make ends meet today.
Reducing the personal income tax by one percentage point will also free up cash that individuals can spend to accompany the reduction of the mandatory employee contribution to the EPF.
Freeing up cash EPF has worked well in the past to increase consumption, which is important as domestic consumption generates 60% of economic growth.
The strategy to generate employment is to preserve employment.
As 300,000 Malaysians enter the workforce each year, the government must ensure that not only does the unemployment rate fall below the 4.7% it was in August, but that it can also provide paid employment to Malaysians.
Proposals to provide 500,000 jobs under the Skim Jaminan Penjanaan Pekerjaan next year are also significant with skill development and retraining programs worth RM3.7bil.
A high-tech fund worth RM500 thousand to help with employment and the relaxation of tax incentives for the establishment of the Global Trade Points are some of the incentives needed to maintain job creation.
The massive projects announced in the Budget, such as the resumption of the Kwasa Damansara project that will create 100,000 jobs and the MyStep program in which RM700 thousand will be spent to generate 50,000 jobs by the GLCs, many of them in the technical field , are what are needed. advance towards the recovery and revitalization of the national economy.
The 2021 budget is pragmatic in keeping with the times. His steely approach is to ensure that we are well and to meet the basic but most important needs of Malaysians during these difficult times.
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