PUTRAJAYA has no money to give the people in Budget 2019 due to 1MDB-related financial scandals and the RM1 trillion national debt, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“A lot of money has been lost and we have a huge debt to shoulder. We have no money to give the people cash gifts,” he told a press conference after a sales and services tax briefing session in Penang.

Lim was asked to comment on Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks that Budget 2019 – the Pakatan Harapan government’s first such budget – was a “budget of sacrifice” in which “everyone will have to sacrifice”.

Dr Mahathir said this in an interview with Malaysiakini and Sinar Harian.

Dr Mahathir also previously told The Malaysian Insight that the coming budget would be a thin one, as his government prepares to make cutbacks.

Lim said it was necessary for citizens to make some sacrifices.

“We have to face the reality that the federal government must deal with the RM1 trillion debt problem. If we don’t, Malaysia may face a financial crisis.

“We don’t want that. We want to reduce the debt. We must reduce or cancel some development projects,” he said.

Lim said the government had very limited funds to spend while it focused on “treating” the country’s financial condition.

“We don’t have money for extra spending, other than for what we are doing such as replacing the goods and services tax with the sales and services tax, keeping the prices of fuel from increasing, and retaining BR1M, which is now called Cost of Living Aid.

“We have very limited funds for others. I think that is what Tun (Dr Mahathir) meant… that we must reduce spending, and not hope for the government to give out free money.

“When our finances are healthy, we can have the programmes that the people want. Everyone has to ‘korban’ (sacrifice).”

Lim joked that the people who should sacrifice the most were former prime minister Najib Razak and businessman Low Taek Jho, both linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, which is much blamed for the country’s financial woes.

He said the country has to pay 1MDB’s RM50 billion debt.

“They should sacrifice the most because they made all of us ‘korban’.”

On whether the government planned to increase the corporate tax, which is at 24% at present, in Budget 2019, he said he was personally against it because “our neighbours have reduced theirs”.

“If we increase it, we will become less competitive. Even the United States have reduced theirs from 35% to 21%.

“If we can afford to, we should do so as well. If we cannot afford it, we have to look at other suggestions,” Lim said, adding that the country needed revenue. – September 9, 2018.