The 2023 Budget, which will be presented in October, will continue to focus on welfare for the Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian family), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Poised to move the budget 2023 forward three weeks, to October 7.
Why government is doing this?
Clearing the way for Malaysia’s October/ November 2022 general elections, which will take place ten months ahead. The government’s acting minister of law, Wan Junaidi Jaafar, confirmed Budget 2023 would be unveiled on Oct 7, in a statement explaining the last session of Parliament for the year had to be brought forward to give time for the PM’s legislative agenda. A senior official said that the government may yet wait until late November, once Budget 2023 is passed, before seeking king’s approval for a dissolution of parliament.
He said that Parliaments’ last session for that year would be called for this purpose. He will now have to tell Members of Parliament about changes to sitting dates. Wan Junaidi said in a statement that the next sitting of parliament was also moved forward to Oct. 3, to meet new budgetary timetables, as well as to allow for the tabling of more bills.
Commenting further, PM said that he was sure the forthcoming 2023 Budget, which is being tabled at the Dewan Rakyat, would receive the full backing of the opposition, as this was one of the essential items signed between the parties under the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) of transformation and political stability. On August 15, Ismail Sabri said that the forthcoming Budget 2023 would, among others, continue to emphasize on the well-being of the Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian family).
What to expect?
We are hopeful that Budget 2023, to be presented on October 7, is fiscally responsible, has reformist inclinations, and is focused on developmental and structural reforms rather than being election-centric. We hope the 2023 budget outlines more structured medium- and long-term tax reforms to ensure Malaysia’s more resilient taxation system. All said and done, the next Budget could well be a campaign budget, laden with populist measures for the sake of scoring brownie points, which could hurt the rather fragile tax momentum in the country. It is shown by the recent pay rise followed by allowance for university students.
Cited Sources
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