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KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak has tabled the RM280 billion Budget for 2018, his last before the next general election which must be called by middle of next year.https://youtu.be/XkhGpk-L94Y
Below are Salient points of the budget from Dewan Rakyat.
Civil Servants
• 1.6 million civil servants to receive the following benefits:
– second round time-based promotions
– senior servants who retire due to health reasons will be accorded the same benefits as those who undergo mandatory retirement
– special leave for teachers increased to 10 days a year, up from seven
– seven days unrecorded leave for umrah pilgrimage
– women at least five months pregnant allowed to leave work an hour earlier while husbands accorded the same privilege if their work locations are in close proximity to each other
– maternity leave increased from 300 to 360 days throughout service with a maximum of 90 days a year
– RM1,000 set for minimum pension amount
Senior Citizens, Disabled, Children
• RM1.7 billion for the following areas:
– RM603 million to increase allowance of senior citizens from RM50 to RM350
– RM100 million to increase allowance for the disabled by RM50 a month
Digital Free Trade Zone
• RM83.5 million allocated for DFTZ in Aeropolis, KLIA.
• Increase minimum value for imports from RM500 – RM800.
Sustainable Development
• RM5 billion allocated under Green Technology Funding Scheme.
• RM1.4 billion to reduce non-revenue water programme.
• RM1.3 billion to build Off-River Storage as an alternative water source.
• RM517 million for flood mitigation plans nationwide.
Reduction in Income Tax Rates
• Reduction in individual income tax rates:
– RM20,001 – RM35,000: 5% to 3%
– RM35,001 – RM50,000: 10% to 8%
– RM50,001 – RM70,000: 16% to 14%
• Increase disposable income between RM300-RM1,000 while 261,000 do not have to pay tax
Foreign Domestic Helpers
• Allow employers to hire foreign domestic helpers directly without agent.
GST
• No change to Goods and Services Tax but government to propose either exemption or zerorising certain items and services.
– local councils
– reading materials
– cruise operators
– construction of schools and places of worship funded by approved donations
– oil and gas equipment imports under lease agreement
– import of big ticket items like planes and ships
– management and maintenance of homes with strata titles
Health
• RM27 billion for better quality health services.
• RM4.1 billion for medical supplies and consumables.
• RM1.4 billion to upgrade and maintain health facilities, equipment, ambulances and construction of operation theatres in three hospitals.
• RM100 million to upgrade hospitals and clinics.
• RM50 million to subsidise hemodialysis treatment; and RM40 million for medical assistance fund.
• RM10 million for treatment of rare diseases; RM30 million for health community programmes.
• RM50 million for voluntary health insurance scheme.
Housing
• RM2.2 billion allocated to boost home ownership.
BR1M
• 7 million benefited from RM6.8 billion in BR1M payouts and in 2018 the 7 million will continue to receive the same payout.
Orang Asli Benefits
• RM50 million for Orang Asli for economic development and quality of life enhancement.
• RM60 million for Orang Asli village development.
Indian and Chinese Benefits
• RM50 million for Chinese SME loans through KOJADI.
• RM30 million to be channelled to the 1Malaysia Hawkers and Petty Traders Foundation.
• RM65 million allocated for Chinese New Villages and RM10 million for house restoration.
• RM1.5 billion additional Amanah Saham units for Indians.
• Increase the intake of Indians to IPTA and public service (7%)
Bumiputera Benefits
• RM2.4 billion allocated to UiTM.
• RM3.5 billion for the following initiatives:
– RM2.5 billion for MARA higher education and training scholarships
– RM90 million for Program Peneraju Profesional, Skil dan Tunas
– RM200 million for MARA Graduate Employability Training Scheme or GETS
– RM555 million for Bumiputera Entrepreneurship Enhancement Programme (RM200 million for PUNB Entrepreneurship Programme and Business Premises; RM200 million for MARA Entrepreneurship; RM115 million for Vendor Capacity Programmes).
• RM150 million for Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad and RM150 million to EKUINAS.
Defence
• A total of RM14 billion for armed forces; RM9 billion for police force, RM900 million for Malaysian maritime.
• RM3 billion for purchase and maintenance of defence assets; RM720 million for the construction of 11 police headquarters and six police stations.
• RM490 million to MMEA for repair and maintenance of ships, boats, jetties and procurement of three patrol vessels.
• RM250 million to ESSCOM
• RM50 million to enhance weapon capability to combat terrorism.
• Government to build 40,000 houses in phases for families of armed forces personnel.
• RM40 million to upgrade five hospitals; build four polyclinics and one hospital for veteran armed forces personnel.
Rural Development
• RM200 million allocated for Felda for water supply and road upgrades.
• 112,ooo settlers will each receive windfall worth RM5,000.
• RM43 million allocation for Felda settlers and RM60 million for replanting of oil palm, RM164 million allocation to build 5,000 houses for second generation Felda settlers.
• RM1.1 billion for people-centric projects; RM1 billion to develop communication infrastructure; RM934 million for rural projects; RM672 million for electricity supply; RM420 million for clean water supply inclusive of RM300 million in Sabah and Sarawak covering 3,000 homes; RM500 million for public infrastructure maintenance; RM50 million for mapping and measuring of native customary land
– RM30 million for Sarawak, RM20 million for Sabah.
• RM6.5 billion for rural infrastructure which includes RM2 billion for the Pan Borneo Highway.
Education
• RM4.9 million allocated for 100 scholarships for TVET students.
• RM4.9 billion allocated for Technical and Vocational, Education and Training (TVET).
• RM200 million added to PTPTN fund for B40 families.
• Discount for repayment of PTPTN loans is extended to Dec 31, 2018 (20% for full repayment, 10% for 50% repayment, and 10% for direct debit salary deduction).
• RM100 for 3.2 million schoolchildren totalling RM328 million.
• RM2.9 billion for food aid, text books and minor federal scholarships.
• RM2.5 billion for maintenance of schools – RM500 million in Peninsula, RM1 billion in Sabah, RM1 billion in Sarawak, in addition to an existing special fund for maintenance.
• RM654 million for construction of four pre-schools; nine Permata schools; two centres for children with autism; 48 primary, secondary as well as vocational and matriculation centres.
• RM61.6 billion for development of education.
TN50
• RM20 million for Bukit Jalil sports school.
• RM112 million to construct 14 new sports complexes nationwide.
• RM1 billion to conduct sports initiatives to make country a sports powerhouse.
• RM50 million to fund social enterprise and NGOs to solve communities issues.
• RM40 million for open interview programme under the 1Malaysia training scheme (SL1M).
• All undergraduates and those in Form Six will continue to receive book vouchers.
• RM90 million for MyBrain programme for 10,600 students to further their studies at post-graduate level.
• RM400 million for research and development grants to public institutions of higher learning with a special allocation to Universiti Malaya to achieve status of Top 100 universities in the world.
• RM2.2 billion for JPA scholarships, the ministry of higher education and ministry of health.
• RM20 million for setting up of a Cultural Economy Development agency.
• RM190 million to upgrade 2,000 classes to become smart learning classrooms.
• To enhance present computer science module to include coding programme in primary and secondary school curriculums.
• RM250 million to build science, technology, engineering and mathematics centre.
• Special fund set up for children born between Jan 2018 to Jan 2022.
• Tax relief for employers who employ the disabled that include those involved in accidents and have critical illnesses.
• Local councils to make it mandatory for all new buildings to have childcare facilities, beginning in Kuala Lumpur.
Public Transport
• Government studying proposal for a new airport in Pulau Tioman.
• Government to build new airport for Mukah and expand airport for Kota Bahru and Sandakan.
• Government to upgrade Penang and Langkawi international airports.
• RM55 million transport subsidy for rural rail services from Tumpat to Gua Musang.
• RM45 million to create a biometric control system to monitor the movement of express bus services.
• RM95 million for the repair and construction of jetties as well as river mouth dredging.
• RM1 billion for public transport fund for start-up capital and procurement of assets like buses and taxis.
• RM3 billion for transport development fund for the purchase of maritime assets, aerospace technology development and rail.
Infrastructure
• Special border economic zone in Bukit Kayu Hitam to be developed.
• Pulau Pangkor to be declared a duty-free zone.
• RM230 million to continue central spine road project from Raub to Bentong.
• RM5 billion for the west coast coastal highway from Banting to Taiping.
• Government to expedite MRT3 project by two years from 2027 to 2025.
• RM32 billion for MRT2 project (Sg Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya).
• RM110 million to provide alternative road to Port Klang.
Tourism
• RM30 million to be allocated to the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council to boost medical tourism.
• RM500 million for the promotion and development of tourism.
• RM1 billion to tourism infrastructure development fund.
• RM2 billion fund for SMEs in tourism.
Agriculture
• RM200 monthly for a duration of 3 months for padi farmers while waiting to harvest their crops, which amounts to RM150 million.
• RM200 million for rubber replanting, RM140 million for development, re-planting and promotion of oil palm.
• Almost RM500 million to improve agriculture infrastructure.
• RM2.3 billion in incentives and assistance for the agriculture community.
• RM6.5 billion allocated to the smallholders, farming and fishing communities.
Other Highlights
• RM100 million with a 70% government-guaranteed loan for the furniture export industry.
• RM200 million allocated for training programmes, grants and SME easy loans under SME Corp; and close to RM82 million for halal products and industry development.
• RM2 billion set aside for 70% government-guaranteed loans.
• RM5 billion allocated for start-up capital for businesses.
• RM7 billion allocated to Skim Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan.
• SMEs expected to contribute 41% of GDP by 2020.
• Private sector investment is expected to reach RM260 billion by 2018 and will be the engine of growth.
• Total investments in the country is expected to increase by 6.7% contributing to 25.5% to the GDP for 2018.
• RM26.34 billion for economic sector; RM11.72 billion for the social sector; RM5.22 billion for the security sector; RM2.72 billion for general administration sector.
• Administration budget is RM119.82 billion; other expenditure is RM1.08 billion; asset procurement is RM577 million.
• For 2018, federal government is expected to collect RM239.86 billion in revenue.
• Allocation for Budget 2018 is RM280.25 billion, an increase of over RM20 billion.
• B40 household income has increased to RM3,000 per month from RM2,629 for the period 2014-2016.
• Monthly median income has increased from RM4,585 in 2014 to RM5,288 in 2016.
• Current per capita income stands at RM40,713, expected to reach RM42,777 by 2018.
• Our international reserves now stand at US$101.4 billion.
• In August, exports hit a high of RM80 billion, recording double-digit growth.
• 69% or 2.26 million new jobs created so far from the target 3.3 million to be created by 2020.
• 3 international credit rating agencies have reaffirmed our A-rating with stable prospects.
• Looking at 2009, our fiscal deficit was at 6.7% of the GDP and is expected to decrease to 3% in 2017 and 2.8% in 2018.
• Actual private investment for 2016 is over RM211 billion.
• Government projection growth of between 5.2% to 5.7% for 2017, higher than the projection in March of between 4.3% and 4.8%.
• Projected GDP increase from 4.9% to 5.2% for 2017.
• The country has had a growth rate of 5.7% in the first half of 2017.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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