KUALA LUMPUR: A special allocation to safeguard student welfare and address hunger among tertiary students will be announced in Budget 2027, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said the government is aware of the grievances and financial hardships faced by the younger generation, particularly underprivileged students, stressing that no student should go hungry while pursuing higher education.
“There are university students who say, ‘We want to study, but we are hungry.’ We will feed them and focus on this.
“I will announce it later when presenting the budget, as I can’t announce it now,” Anwar said during his address at the Youth Economic Forum (YEF) 2026 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, acknowledged that some underprivileged students had to go into debt to survive.
“Poor students who cannot afford it are forced to go into debt. These are issues we must listen to,” he said.
Anwar stressed that the country had sufficient wealth to support its youth and education sector, provided financial leakages and corruption were addressed.
He cited past financial scandals involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Tabung Haji and Felda, where billions of ringgit vanished through governance failures.
“This country is not poor; it has wealth,” he said, adding that plugging financial leakages would allow public funds to be recovered and redirected towards education, student aid and youth development programmes.
Previously, Anwar announced a RM26mil allocation under the Budget 2026 for the Dapur Siswa Madani initiative under the Higher Education Ministry.
The initiative was launched on Jan 1 this year to ensure no student goes hungry or lacks access to food and received an additional RM15mil.
Anwar is scheduled to table Budget 2027 in Parliament on Oct 9.
