An opinion piece by the director of the ASEAN Research Institute of Banking and Finance in Utara Malaysia University urging the Government to focus on the well-being of the people, especially in terms of food and housing, under the Budget 2017.

As food prices are increasing more quickly than the overall inflation rate, the Government must implement measures to manage the prices. One way is to increase the supply of food. Measures such as incentivising the private industry to participate in research and development to increase food production and improve efficiency of supply chains, encourage public-private collaborations, liberalising the industry to make the market more efficient and allocating a bigger budget for the agricultural industry.

The Budget 2017 should focus on the supply of affordable housing. It must be targeted to the low- and middle-income buyers but it is common for speculators to take advantage as well, which causes the house prices to increase.

Apart from that, the Government needs to focus on income and wage growth. For example, the Government should consider standardising the minimum wage rate in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak as well as reducing the income tax rates for the middle-income group to boost their purchasing power.

Essentially, the Budget 2017 should be in line with the 11th Malaysian Plan which calls for the improvement of the well-being of the people.

Source: New Straits Times Online, 7 October 2016