ON Oct 29, the government tabled the largest budget in Malaysia's history. The response has been mixed.
Some experts have described the expansionary budget as necessary, while others have described it as not being enough.
As per the Treasury's pre-budget statement, the 2022 Budget aims to support three core areas — strengthening recovery, building resilience and driving reform.
To a great extent, the Finance Ministry has delivered on its promise. Most of the RM332.1 billion has been allocated to ensuring a prosperous, happy and peaceful (sejahtera) people; strengthening business resilience; and building a prosperous and sustainable economy.
According to the finance minister, the 2022 Budget allocated RM10.6 billion to help Malaysians (especially the B40 group) through this recovery period, through schemes such as Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia.
The government has also allocated RM14.2 billion and deferred income tax instalments for six months for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to help them in this challenging time.
In line with the prime minister's "Keluarga Malaysia" clarion call, the 2022 Budget addresses those in need, regardless of race.
Allocations have been made for everyone, including the most vulnerable groups, like women, indigenous people and those with disabilities.
Recognising their importance, the budget has allocated RM67.1 billion to education to support programmes for schoolchildren, students of higher learning institutions and teachers.
The government has also allocated RM32.4 billion to the Health Ministry and made available additional funds to manage the pandemic.
Acknowledging the importance of the digital economy, RM45 million has been allocated for the technology transformation of SMEs and RM20 million to the Cradle Fund to intensify efforts to rehabilitate and build the resilience of start-ups.
On Nov 3, the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) organised a post-budget forum for civil servants and the public to understand the 2022 Budget better. The panel consisted of representatives from academia, industry and the government.
Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican of the Finance Ministry shared many initiatives to assist the B40 group, create employment and drive economic recovery. He said the expansionary budget, while challenging to government finances, was necessary to aid recovery.
He called this a budget for the people by the people, involving all Malaysians, from the grassroots to the corporate world.
Universiti Malaya's Distinguished Professor Datuk Dr Rajah Rasiah said while the initiatives in the 2022 Budget to address the pandemic and assist the economic recovery were commendable, more could have been done.
Areas of concern to him were economic inequality, the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) technologies and food security. Rajah said extraordinary times required extraordinary measures and Malaysia should prioritise helping the vulnerable above fiscal discipline.
Datuk Noraini Soltan, vice-president of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), welcomed the allocations to support job creation, expanding trade and investment, strengthening the research and innovation ecosystem, enhancing technology adoption and supporting the effort to create a sustainable economy.
Nevertheless, FMM called for more business, manufacturing and trade support, such as continuation of the bank loan moratorium, faster loan approvals and lowering or waiving of taxes for SMEs.
The three panellists agreed that the pandemic offered Malaysia an opportunity to push for much needed reforms. Of note was the need for the manufacturing and agriculture sectors to embrace new technologies (i.e, automation, digitalisation, robots and drones) to increase productivity.
Nevertheless, the panellists also agreed that too much uncertainty, particularly over the pandemic, could derail recovery.
In general, the 2022 Budget is a positive step, but only the first of many on the road to recovery.
The assistance and support will ease some of the burden Malaysians are bearing.
Nevertheless, much will depend on how well we continue to manage the pandemic.
Malaysians must do their part, especially by adhering to the standard operating procedures.
In this case, Intan will continue to contribute by improving the government service delivery through upskilling and reskilling of public servants.
Intan will also continue to aid and equip Malaysia's public servants with the skills and knowledge to help the country navigate through its recovery, while assisting us to embrace the new and emerging challenges brought about by the disruptive IR 4.0 technologies.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2021/11/745703/2022-budget-first-many-steps-towards-nations-recovery