SELANGOR’s welfare programmes helped raise the state’s median household income and reduce income inequality, says Unisel business school dean Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah.

“(The median household incomes for) the three major ethnic communities are growing faster than at national level.

“This shows the people-centric Peduli Rakyat (programmes) are bearing fruits,” said Dr Faiz at a business forum on the economic outlook for 2018 in Subang today.

In Selangor, the Chinese was the ethnic group with the highest median household income at RM9,290 in 2016 compared to RM8,033 in 2014.

This was followed by Malays, whose median household income rose from RM5,776 to RM6,784, and Indians, from RM5,215 to RM6,457 between 2014 to 2016.

The national median household income increase for all three ethnic groups are RM4,214 to RM4,846 for Malays, RM5,708 to RM6,582 for Chinese and RM4,627 to RM5,428 for Indians from 2014 to 2016.

Selangor’s overall Gini coefficient – which measures income inequality in a population – fell from 0.379 to 0.372 based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

The median household income for urban families in Selangor rose from RM6,484 to RM7,443 while for rural families it increased from RM4,003 to RM5,119.

The Peduli Rakyat Initiative in Selangor include a range of welfare programmes and financial aid targeted at the bottom 40% lowest earning families, estate workers, women and children, among others, introduced since the former Pakatan Rakyat coalition took over the state in 2008.

Selangor launched its blueprint to become a “smart state” by 2025 last December.

Selangor main investment arm Menteri Besar Incorporated chief executive officer Raja Shahreen Raja Othman said the blueprint was drawn after it consulted all 12 local councils and the people in the state.

He said the state administration is focused on trying to address public concerns with the state development blueprint. – October 27, 2017.