Govt to revise deficit target following Pemulih impact

Treasury deputy secretary-general (policy) Zakiah Jaafar said the RM150bil Pemulih involves an additional direct fiscal injection of RM10bil, which will obviously impact the government’s fiscal position.

KUALA LUMPUR: The implementation of the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih) is expected to have an impact on the government’s fiscal situation.

Therefore, a new fiscal deficit target will be made when the effects under phase one of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) on the gross domestic product (GDP) are announced in August.

Treasury deputy secretary-general (policy) Zakiah Jaafar said the RM150bil Pemulih involves an additional direct fiscal injection of RM10bil, which will obviously impact the government’s fiscal position.

“The government has announced various assistance and stimulus packages, the latest being Pemulih.

“Last year, we targeted a fiscal deficit of 5.4% of GDP but this year, with the launch of assistance packages such as the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection Assistance Package (Permai) and Strategic Programme to Empower The People and Economy (Pemerkasa), we have raised the fiscal deficit forecast for 2021 to 6%.

“With the launch of Pemulih, the figure is expected to increase further, ” she said on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme.

She said the revised target for the nation’s financial position will be made after the tabling of the effects of the NRP on the GDP in August. — Bernama