NEWS

At a recent interview on Malaysia's Budget 2021, Fakhrurrazi Rashid opined that the country was now in an era of no single party, or leader dominance. Still, the public and opposition must evaluate the government's responsiveness towards their suggestions for the Budget.

Commenting on Budget 2021, REFSA's Fredrik Paulus believes it is too soon to pursue any fiscal consolidation agendas and as such, advises loosening fiscal deficit targets and the introduction of bold measures to usher in a new economic paradigm, as proposed in REFSA’s most recent Policy Brief on Budget 2021.

The government should use the next few weeks until Nov 25, when a vote is taken, to gather feedback from all and be prepared to make changes for #Budget2021. The government should be prepared to incur a larger deficit to create jobs, deal with health crises across the board, and more social protection to vulnerable groups.

Budget 2021 appears to be based on the wrong assumption that our economy will bounce back strongly in 2021. It is too soon to pursue any financial consolidation agenda and Putrajaya should instead loosen its financial deficit targets.

According to REFSA, Budget 2021 may fail to make a large impact in creating jobs and ensuring future economic growth, two key issues the pandemic has particularly highlighted. The budget could have served as a bigger catalyst for economic activity.

For decades, fiscal discipline and balanced budgets were the guiding light for finance ministers across the globe. That the institutions who were staunch defenders of this approach are now calling to abandon it is testament to the extent of the economic disruption we are witnessing. The upcoming budget is the best opportunity to start putting this new paradigm into practice.

Despite the public perception that Malaysia has a bloated civil service, there is a dire need for more healthcare workers to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Our Visiting Researcher, Farhana Roslan speaks on the government's role in creating sustainable jobs of demand in the public sector as the nation rebuilds amidst the pandemic. For one, the health sector, along with education, is in need of more staff in the COVID-19 fight.

民主行动党万宜国会议员王建民博士促请政府在即将来临的2021年财政预算案必须着重在卫生、教育及人民福利，至于扩大财政赤字反而是次要考量。

经济分析员认为，在大马面临新冠肺炎疫情的非常时期，2021年财政预算案的分配重点应该在三个领域，教育、卫生和人民福祉。

义腾研究中心认为，教育、医疗及社会福利是财政预算案要去解决的关键领域，以促进我国未来的繁荣发展。