Malaysia’s Budget 2023 will be broadcasted live today at 4pm. Minister of Finance Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul bin Tengku Abdul Aziz is expected to present a variety of initiatives for economic reform “used by all groups of Malaysians”.
“(Budget 2023) will generate better employment and income opportunities, a more prosperous life, as well as inclusive and sustainable socio-economic opportunities,” wrote the Ministry of Finance in its announcement post on Facebook.
Here’s what happened last year
This year’s budget (Budget 2022) is the biggest yet—at RM332.1 billion. Its theme was “Keluarga Malaysia, Makmur Sejahtera”, with three main objectives being ‘Rakyat’s Wellbeing’, ‘Resilient Businesses’, and ‘Prosperous and Sustainable Economy’.
The people of Malaysia received a total of RM8.2 billion in financial aid. There were several types of cash handouts given to households, single parents, senior citizens, and even unmarried citizens.
The government announced salary incentives for employers to hire new people and create jobs for Malaysians, as well as several initiatives aiming at increasing the number of female leaders in the boardroom. For education, Budget 2022 announced its largest cut was given to Ministry of Education (RM52.6 billion) and the Ministry of Higher Education (RM14.5 billion).
RM32.4 billion was allocated to the health sector. RM2 billion went to the COVID-19 vaccination programme, and another RM2 billion was also allocated to help procurement of PPEs, health kits, and other equipment.
Other notable initiatives include PerantiSiswa tablets which consist of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 for eligible B40 students, a RM150 ePemula eWallet credit for Malaysian youths, and a full tax exemption for the purchase of electric vehicles.
For Budget 2023, the government is expected to increase its budget allocation.
Where to watch Budget 2023
According to a pre-Budget statement, the themes of Budget 2023 will be “Strengthening Recovery, Facilitating Reforms Towards Sustainable Socio-Economic Resilience of Keluarga Malaysia”. We can expect to look out for initiatives that would widen the tax base, provide subsidies for rising commodity and food prices, strengthen automation and digitalisation initiatives, and environmental sustainability.
You can watch Budget 2023 online:
You can also watch it on television—RTM announced that you’d be able to view the broadcast on TV1 and the rest of RTM’s channels starting 3pm today. It’s also expected to stream on Astro Awani (which you can also view online), Bernama (Astro channel 502, FB, YouTube), Unifi TV channel 631, and MyFreeView 121.
