KUALA LUMPUR OCT.7: The Minister of Finance, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has unveiled Budget 2023 amounting to RM372.3 billion and will be driven by the 3R agenda, “Responsive, Responsible and Reformist” in the Parliament today.
The Finance Minister had taken more than two hours to complete tabling the Budget 2023 that is aimed at prospering the Keluarga Malaysia.
Tengku Zafrul said,the budget has allocated RM272.3 billion for management, RM95 billion for development expenditures and RM5 billion under the “Kumpulan Wang COVID-19” and RM2 billion for Contingency Savings.
Tengku Zafrul said, the three highest recipients of the Budget 2023 include the Ministry of Finance (RM67.2 billion), Ministry of Education (RM55.6 billion) and Health Ministry (RM36.1 billion).
“This constituted RM43.3 per cent of the total expenditure,” Tengku Zafrul said in tabling the Budget 2023.
In the Budget 2023 among the benefits that will be enjoyed by the citizens includes 450,000 households will receive monthly aid from the Social Welfare Department amounting to RM2.5 billion.
Tengku Zafrul said, the Malaysian Family Aid will be increased to RM2, 500 for families with five children and above, RM1, 000 to RM2, 000 for families with four children and below.
He said, seniors and singles will receive between RM350 and RM600. A total of RM55 billion has been allocated for subsidies, assistance and incentives to reduce the cost of living of the people.
The Minister also announced the “Gender Focal Teams” that will be set in all ministries and government agencies to address gender gaps and to have more women involve in the planning and implementation of policies.
He added, RM8 million will be allocated for social support centres to help domestic violence victim and those with mental health issues with the aid of NGOs such as PS the Children.
“To help women build, upgrade and market their businesses, the government is allocating RM235 million while the Securities Commission will offer training programmes to increase the number of women playing the leadership roles in the industry,” Tengku Zafrul said.
For the youth to start their businesses, the Finance Minister said, the government has allocated RM305 million to apply loans under BSN and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA).
He added, one person can apply up to RM50, 000 and it will benefit more than 10,000 youths. At the same time under the MyPSV programme, the government will bear the cost of B40 youths to obtain taxi, bus and e-hailing licences. The government will also allocate RM10 million to the mobilepreneur that is to be continued.
For one million taxpayer among the middle-income (M40) households, the Finance Minister announced that the individual resident income tax rate will be reduced by two percentage points for the taxable income range between more than RM50, 000 up to RM100, 000.
Tengku Zafrul said, the taxable income range more than RM50, 000 to RM70, 000 is reduced from 13 per cent to 11 per cent while for the income of RM70, 000 to RM100, 000 is lowered from 21 per cent to 19 per cent.
“At the same time, the taxable income tax range of more than RM250,000 to RM400,000 will be combined with the range of more than RM400,000 to RM600,000 and be subject to a 25 per cent tax rate,” Tengku Zafrul said.
According to Tengku Zafrul, RM100 in ewallet credit will also be allocated for M40 Malaysians. With ewallet credit that is expected to benefit eight million people, the government has allocated RM800 million.
Meanwhile, the Minister also announced that youths aged between 18 and 20 years old and full time students above 21 years old will receive RM200 in ewallet credit under the ePemula initiative.
“Two million youths are expected to benefit from the allocation amounting to RM400 million for this initiative,” he said.
Tengku Zafrul also mentioned that the Pakej Remaja Keluarga Malaysia initiative offering 20 GB Internet data packages prices at RM30 for three months to students and youths will be extended until April 2023.
The Budget has also ensured the welfare and continuous support are given to the padi planters involving fertilisers, valid seeds, dry padi fertilisers and padi production incentives besides the fishing yields incentive. For this the government has allocated RM1.8 billion that is an increase of RM100 million compared to 2022.
Regarding the Monsoon Season Aid (BMT), Tengku Zafrul said, the rubber small holders will receive RM200 a month for four months involving 320,000 small holders with the allocation of RM256 million. This means small holders will get RM800 BMT compared to RM600 before this budget.-Malaysia World News
