KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Najib Razak announced Malaysia‘s 2018 budget on Friday, presenting government plans to tackle rising costs and to contain the country’s fiscal deficit.
The government also on Friday released its annual economic report.
Following are some highlights from Najib’s speech and the economic report:
BUDGET
– Proposed budget stands at 280.25 bln ringgit, a rise of 7.5 pct from 2017
– 2018 revenue collection to expand around 6.4 pct to 239.9 bln ringgit
– Fiscal deficit expected at 2.8 pct of GDP for 2018, compared with 3.0 pct this year
– “What is important is govt maintain fiscal consolidation target,” Najib says
– 234.25 bln ringgit for operating expenditure, 46 bln ringgit for development
– An allocation of 6.5 bln ringgit for rural infrastructure development
– 6.8 bln ringgit to be allocated to govt cash aid programme BR1M
– 2.2 billion for public housing programmes
– 27 bln rgt allocated for quality healthcare
TAXES
– Income tax to be cut by 2 percentage points for those earning 20,000–70,000 ringgit annually
– No more Goods and Services Tax (GST) for services supplied by local governments
– GST exemption on reading materials, schools and places of worship built by donations
HANDOUTS
– One-time cash payment of 1,500 ringgit in 2018 for civil servants, 750 ringgit for government retirees
SUBSIDIES
– 3.9 bln ringgit for goods and transport subsidies including for cooking oil and gas, flour, electricity and tolls
MACRO ECONOMY
– Malaysia 2018 GDP forecast of 5.0-5.5 pct growth, 5.2-5.7 pct seen for 2017
– 2018 inflation forecast at 2.5-3.5 pct, and 3.0-4.0 pct in 2017
– Malaysia sees exports up 16.6 pct this year, then climbing 3.4 pct in 2018
– Current account surplus seen at 32.9 bln rgt for 2018, 32.3 bln rgt forecast for 2017
(Reporting by Kuala Lumpur Bureau; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
Source : www.salaamgateway.com