KUALA LUMPUR: The 2025 Budget announced on Friday (Oct 18) is very people-friendly and meets Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's desire to tackle the issue of rising cost of living, said an analyst.
Putra Business School's Master of Business Administration programme director, Assoc Prof Dr Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said the increase in minimum wage to RM1,700, which is a follow-up to the salary adjustment for civil servants, reflected the government's commitment to the well-being of the people.
In addition, the aid for the less fortunate, such as the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR), Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) and Social Welfare Department (JKM), was also increased, in addition to enjoying targeted subsidy, he said.
"The focus (of Budget 2025) is on the people as no mega projects were announced and, if there are any infrastructure projects, they are more towards upgrading basic amenities that will benefit the people directly," he said when contacted by Bernama.
When tabling Budget 2025 in Parliament, the Prime Minister announced an increase in the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700 effective February 2025, with a grace period of six months for employers with fewer than five workers.
Ahmed Razman said the middle-class group (M40) was not left out of Budget 2025 as they too could enjoy part of the aid announced by the government, in addition to not being burdened with additional taxes.
"The STR and SARA will benefit 60 per cent of Malaysians, meaning half of the M40 group will get this assistance.
"In addition, the M40 who wish to own a house will get tax exemptions and still benefit from the targeted petrol subsidy, education and health," he said, adding that most of the taxes were imposed on the high-income group or T15.
According to the Prime Minister, the allocation for STR and SARA was increased from RM10 billion to RM13 billion in 2025 and would benefit nine million recipients or 60 per cent of the country's adult population.
In addition, 85 per cent of Malaysians are not affected by the targeted education and health subsidies as well as the RON95 petrol subsidy that will be implemented in mid-2025.
To prevent traders from taking advantage by raising the prices of goods following the minimum wage increase, Ahmed Razman said the government needs to continue the price control mechanism for basic services and goods, such as chicken, eggs, rice, electricity tariff and petrol.
"But for other necessities, the burden on them can be reduced through the cash aid. We also have the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act… if traders raise the prices of goods significantly, consumers can lodge a report.
The Price Catcher application also enables us to make a price comparison. So, we have the mechanism to ensure there is no significant increase in the prices of goods," he said.
Economic expert Prof Emeritus Dr Barjoyai Bardai concurred that Budget 2025 is a people's budget as no mega projects were announced, besides existing aid, such as STR and SARA, being raised for the benefit of the needy.
The Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) lecturer also welcomed the aid for micro, small and medium industries (PMKS) and the minimum wage increase, which will be enjoyed by about 16 million people.
He, however, expressed concern about the mechanism for the RON95 targeted petrol subsidy, which may be more complicated compared to the targeted diesel subsidy as it would involve about 20 million users.
"When implementing the targeted diesel subsidy, we too thought it would not involve many diesel vehicle users in Peninsular Malaysia, but more than 250,000 were registered and receive this subsidy every month.
"If for petrol, perhaps 20 million people will register. So, how is the management going to be done?" he said, adding that the government would need to upgrade its Central Database Hub (PADU) if it wants to implement the targeted petrol subsidy.