Malaysia outlines expansionary national budget with eye on COVID-19 recovery

The Malaysian government led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday proposed an expansionary national budget aimed at helping the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget for 2022 has been allocated 332.1 billion ringgit (80.19 billion U.S. dollars) compared to 322.5 billion ringgit (78.08 billion U.S. dollars) allocated for 2021 in the previous budget.

In his budget speech at the country's lower house of parliament, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the budget will focus on COVID-19 recovery, sustaining and spurring economic activities, and rebuilding economic resilience.

The biggest allocation will go towards education with the Education Ministry receiving some 52.6 billion ringgit and the Higher Education Ministry receiving some 14.5 billion ringgit, to remedy the disruptions faced by millions of students since early 2020.

The Health Ministry has allocated some 32.4 billion ringgit with a further 2 billion ringgit for its vaccine program as well as 4 billion ringgit for enhancing public health, following the severe strain the pandemic placed on the country's public health system.

"Our war with this COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. Therefore, an additional 4 billion ringgit is provided specifically to continue addressing COVID-19 which covers 2 billion ringgit to fund the vaccination program.

"Meanwhile, another 2 billion ringgit is provided to increase the capacity of public health service facilities such as purchase of medicine supplies, consumables depleted, PPE and health kits," he said.

To aid segments of the population burdened by the economic fallout from COVID-19, some 31 billion ringgit has been allocated for subsidies and incentives, including aid for rural population and families with kids.

Tengku Zafrul also said that in the next year, the country's economy is projected to continue to grow between 5.5 to 6.5 percent centered on still-strong economic fundamentals and its diverse structure.

However, this performance also depends on other factors, such as pandemic control, the implementation vaccination programs as well as the prospects for world economy and trade, he explained. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )

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