PM cautiously optimistic over Malaysia's economic outlook

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is cautiously optimistic over Malaysia's economic outlook in the later part of this year and in 2013.
He said on Tuesday the country's economy is resilient, especially since the government had implemented reforms through the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), but there were downside risks to the global economy which should be heeded.
Najib
said this when asked for his views on Malaysia's economic outlook for
the two periods during an online chat with the public via NSTLive.
Asked
if there would be a second 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) handout for
deserving Malaysians and if it would be more than RM500, Najib said: "I
will be looking at the government's cashflow soon to decide if we can
afford a second BR1M whilst ensuring fiscal discipline."
Najib,
who is also the Finance Minister, stressed that the government is the
people's government, which cares for their needs while maintaining
fiscal responsibility.
He said there will always be something
for the people when he announces the 2013 Budget to be tabled in
Parliament on Sept 28. "You have to wait for the presentation of the
budget," he said, when asked if there would be any "goodies" for all
sections of the population in it.
Asked if instead of spending
so much on random handouts for the poor instead of long-term
development such as education and healthcare, he said the government
had the means to do both.
"In our feedback, we have ascertained that reducing the cost of living is a major concern of the people.
"That
is why I announced it as a short-term measure. But for the long-term,
we are addressing it through measures such as increasing the pay of
civil servants at between 7% and 13%, introducing the minimum wage for
the private sector and creating more jobs through the ETP programme," he added.
Touching
on benefits for middle-class citizens under the GTP, he said the
government needs to look at some incentives, that can be considered
from time to time.
Najib said the government's ability to create
more wealth and provide higher paying jobs, would also benefit the
middle-class together with other initiatives like housing, health
programmes and an improvement in public transport.
"In the
medium term, we should look at the tax structure and incentives that we
can provide for the middle class," he added, in addressing a question
on incentives for private sector employees, who are medium range wage
earners.
Najib said this is however subject to the government's ability to restructure the revenue base for the country.
"If
we can increase our sources of revenue, then we can consider a medium
term reduction in personal income tax and provide more incentives," he
added.
Meanwhile, Najib said the government is in the process of
addressing the Digital Poverty Gap in rural Sarawak, where
accessibility to the Information Highway for example, students, is
limited to school IT Labs. - Bernama