YOURSAY | Budget 2023 – it’s raining money

YOURSAY | ‘It provides short-term relief but long-term pain.’

RM372.3b - Finance minister unveils biggest budget ever

New govt must table budget again if GE called soon - Zafrul

Vijay47: A RM372 billion budget, the biggest ever! With development expenditure of RM95 billion and operational expenditure of RM272 billion, the budget promises benefits to everyone.

Better still, the deficit has been reduced to 5.5% from last year’s 6%, which reflects the progress we have achieved even if I have no clue what the heck deficit means. Anyway, this is a budget every Malaysian can be proud of. Yeah, sure.

Since I failed Economics thrice, I have a very limited understanding of budgets and such stuff. But I know that the budget serves two objectives –the nation and the community.

Among the projected national amounts are estimates for the armed forces, which runs to the traditional multi-billion fabulous sum, assuring us that we can sleep peacefully at night, knowing that more submarines and littoral combat ships are heading to our shores or coastline.

Christmas comes early this year – there are gifts galore for government servants, teachers, soldiers and policemen, Petronas scholarship holders and Mara scholars. And of course, Jakim (Malaysian Islamic Affairs Department).

This shows the government’s care for community purposes. The surprise icing is the RM25 million for Indian education and RM100 million for Mitra (Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit) or Chitra or something like that. Wow!

Apanama is Back: Looking at the overall budget, the current government need to be voted out. This is based on ballooning debt on top of what the auditor-general reported yesterday.

Petronas just contributed RM50 billion. If you minus this figure from the RM372.3 million (the total budget), it is RM322.3 billion. Our debt could be more than one trillion. There is nothing to be proud of about the deficit coming down from 6% to 5.5%.

Another reason is we are giving out money to unproductive activities such as RM1.5 billion to Jakim. What they will do with this amount?

Next, in order to patch up this ballooning debt, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be introduced after GE15. Otherwise, how are we to pay up? Do you think Petronas can fork out so much money?

We need to be prudent and frugal and live within our means.

Maya: This feel-good budget or election budget, or whatever we call it, will have serious implications for the country's economy. We will probably feel the full impact of inflation.

Compounded by the billions in debt, it will further strangulate the ringgit and increase the debt burden. Bank Negara will have no choice, but to increase rates, which again will affect loans and the housing market.

Ultimately the feel-good will end with a recession. The ringgit too may not recover, even if it does, it will be in 2024 or later again depending on all other factors.

We definitely will have to brace for the worst. Hopefully, a good and sensible government is elected to get the nation out of the dump.

BR: Civil servants and pensioners and their extended families make up about four to five million voters. That is a big voter base.

Later, the government can retrieve whatever's given out from GST - every single cent plus interests. And private-sector workers will have to bleed more.

Demi Rakyat: This budget is all about throwing money around. I don't see any real strategy or thoughtful approach in handling, protecting and growing the economy.

Zafrul looks more like Santa Claus than a finance minister.

Aisyalam: Budget 2023 provides short-term relief but long-term pain.

It does not address the fundamental weakness of increasing productivity, attracting foreign investments, providing for food security, addressing the impact of climate change, and yet it’s our biggest budget to date.

SeniorCitizen: Where is all the money coming from?

Fines from former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and other bigtime looters of the nation's coffers (and that too if they really pay up in the end) might contribute a little, but how about the rest - especially with inflation and the shrinking ringgit?

GreenCheetah0027: Every year, the country gets excited about the budget, which is all about spending money.

And every year, we hear, see and read little about where will the government find the money for all these expenditures.

So, are we spending today what our grandchildren will be repaying tomorrow?

Just a Malaysian: A poor man like Malaysia spends like a rich person - giving goodies to everyone and borrowing more to pay his debts.

A rich man like Singapore spends money like a poor person - calling for caution and thrift. Which country will end up like Sri Lanka?

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