KUALA LUMPUR – The government has raised the expenditure ceiling of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) by RM15 billion, bringing the total allocation to RM415 billion.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the raise was to increase what is needed to finance the people’s priority areas in addition to improving the quality of management and retargeting subsidies to meet the basic needs of the people.
“The 12MP will be re-aligned with the vision of the Madani Economy, which aims to empower and stimulate the national economy for a period of ten years.
“Thus, the government is committed to spend at least RM90 billion per year for the years 2023 to 2025,” he said in Parliament when presenting the mid-term review of the 12MP.
Anwar said the mid-term review of the 12MP will review the policies, strategies and targets comprehensively taking into account the development gap between the city, the countryside and the interior as well as the rich-poor gap that still exists, the swelling debt, the limited fiscal space, and the slow transition of the economic structure.
He said the 12MP allocated RM400 billion to finance extension and new development projects for a period of five years.
For the first two years, the government has spent a total of 34%, he said.
“In 2021, the total development expenditure will only be as much as RM64.3 billion, while in 2022 the amount will be as much as RM71.6 billion,” he said.
Anwar said that during the first half of 2023, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has recorded an increase of 4.2%, supported by private sector activities and good trade.
He said the performance of the labour market was getting better with a higher productivity rate, which was 3.7% per year for the period 2021-2022, while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in the second quarter of 2023.
“The inflation rate in July 2023 has dropped to 2.0%, the lowest recorded in 24 months.
“Gross national income per capita is higher, namely at US$12,035 (RM52,968) in 2022 compared to US$10,191 (RM42,838) in 2020,” he said.
Anwar said the Malaysian people’s well-being index, which measures the level of economic and social well-being of the people, has increased by 1.3% per year.
He said the people’s income had also improved with the average monthly household income increasing to RM8,479 in 2022 from RM7,901 in 2019. – September 11, 2023