DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim started delivering his Budget 2027 speech a half-hour earlier than usual. He then proceeded to deliver what some will say was an election budget – it was chock-full of people-centric proposals.
From the get go, it was clear that concerns from the public conveyed through various forms of media were paid attention to.
In his preamble, the Prime Minister, who is also Finance Minister, said the measure of a Budget lies not in the thickness of its pages, the size of its allocations or the number of its announcements.
“The measure is far more fundamental: are more Malaysians able to live with dignity, and will the Malaysia we hand over to the next generation be fairer than the one we inherited?”
Cost of living was a hot issue leading into the Budget and what was proposed was a series of moves to improve the welfare and disposable income of Malaysians.
The minimum wage was raised to RM2,000, accompanied by a minimum salary of RM2,500 for graduates and semi-skilled workers.
There had been complaints earlier that employers were benchmarking graduate salaries to the previous minimum wage and shortchanging graduates, leaving many young Malaysians questions the purpose of chasing a higher education.
That doubt over higher education has been evident in the declining enrolment into universities in recent years.
Those who took PTPTN loans for their education had reason to cheer.
They have been granted some breathing space and do not need to pay until their salary hits RM2,500.
Further, they only need to pay RM50 a month as long as their monthly incomes are between RM2,500 and RM3,000 a month.
Employees of government-linked companies will also see their salaries rise from a minimum of RM3,100 to RM3,400, a move that benefits 230,00 people.
This will only lift the floor of wages for graduates joining larger companies and hopefully increase the pay packets of sought-after talent.
Another good news involved income tax. The individual tax relief threshold, last changed in 2010, will rise by 33% to RM12,000 from RM9,000.
That increase was long overdue and with consumption taxes bringing their share of revenue for the government, a change in income tax rates is welcome.
Anwar said about five million taxpayers will see an increase of RM1,600 in disposable income from the reduction of income tax and the increase in tax relief.
The government went with the globally popular higher taxes on the wealthy, with the top rate rising to 30% for those earning more than RM1mil a year.
Some 600,000 gig workers will also get to improve their incomes with the government announcing that the Gig Workers Consultative Council was working on establishing a minimum income formula and standards for social protection. It is expected to be announced early next year.
It is also forecast that salaries of e-hailing drivers will rise by RM227 a month and p-hailing delivery workers by up to RM100 a month.
The government announced that the allocation for cash transfers under the STR and Sara programmes will rise to RM16bil next year.
The Sara assistance will rise to RM150 a month to all STR recipients, benefiting some nine million Malaysians. About 13 million Malaysians who are not STR recipients will also receive payouts on two occasions next year – before Hari Raya and before National Day.
With Malaysia now an ageing nation and on the way to become an aged country, the government also decided to help younger ones take care of the elderly by allowing them to claim on their expenses and fees related to the care of their ageing parents and grandparents.
There was more. A higher bankruptcy threshold that will benefit younger Malaysians, higher minimum monthly pensions, a RM2,500 living allowance for Form Six students.
