PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim tabled the Madani administration’s first budget today, themed “Empowering the People”.

This was the unity government’s second budget – the first being Budget 2023 retabled by Anwar, who is also finance minister, in February – which was not based on the Madani concept.

The unveiling of the much anticipated Budget 2024 began at 4pm.

The budget contained integrated policies such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, and the mid-term review of the 12th Malaysia Plan in line with the Madani Economy framework.

Budget 2024 was tabled before Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul and would be debated for eight days from Monday, followed by replies by ministers from October 30.

The Malaysian Insight reports the salient points of Budget 2024 live.

6.50pm: A total of RM50 million is provided as financial assistance to manage registered non-Muslim houses of worship for purpose of repair and maintenance.

6.49pm: Anwar says as of August, 256 sick projects or more than 28,000 housing units have been revived, involving RM23.37 billion.

For next year, the government is allocating RM2.47 billion to implement public housing projects. 

RM460 million is provided to 65,000 poor people in rural areas to build new or repair their old houses. Another RM100 million is set aside to upgrade low- and medium-cost stratified public and private housing nationwide.

6.47pm: Government allocates RM1.9 billion for the management and development of Islamic affairs.

6.46pm: Defence Ministry is allocated RM19.7 billion, an increase of RM2 billion against this year. 

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry is given RM19 billion, an increase of RM500 million compared with this year.

6.40pm: Anwar says RM300 million is provided to repair 400 dilapidated clinics with wooden structures and outdated wiring.

6.39pm: The current excise duty rate for sugary drinks is increased from RM0.40 to RM0.50 per litre. The revenue from this excise duty will be re-channelled specifically to address and treat diabetes, including support for dialysis centeres.

6.37pm: A total of RM766 million is provided for the procurement of medical equipment at public hospitals to replace those classified as Beyond Economic Repair conditions, in addition to meeting the needs of various new service disciplines. 

This includes RM200 million for procurement to ensure health services are ready to respond to emergency calls.

6.35pm: Health Ministry gets biggest share of spending plan at RM41.2 billion, compared with RM36.3 billion this year, which is the biggest increase among ministries. 

A total of RM5.5 billion is provided to obtain medicines, consumables, reagents and vaccines.

6.32pm: Anwar says Higher Education Ministry has been allocated RM16.3 billion. 

RM 250 million also set aside to replace and expand wi-fi access in all public universities, and RM300 million provided to maintain and repair infrastructure as well as replace outdated equipment.

6.31pm: Government agrees to provide a National Higher Education Fund loan repayment discounts from October 14, 2023 until March 31, 2024 at the following rates:

First – 10% discount on the remaining debt for full settlement of the loan;

Second – 10% discount for payment of at least 50% of the remaining debt in one payment; and

Third – 15% discount for payment by salary deduction or scheduled direct debit.

6.26pm: A total of 26 new schools will be constructed with cost amounting RM2.5 billion.

6.23pm: The Education Ministry will receive RM58.7 billion under Budget 2024 compared with the RM55.2 billion it received this year.

6.21pm: RM1.2 billion given for people with disabilities, including for caregivers of the chronically disabled, those disabled and unable to work, and allowances for disabled workers.

Next year, the allowance rate for disabled trainees under the Community Rehabilitation Programme will be increased to RM300 per month from RM150. This increase will benefit more than 18,000 disabled trainees, with an additional allocation of RM30 million.

To provide benefits to disabled micro-entrepreneurs, a special financing facility of RM50 million has been provided under Bank Simpanan Nasional.

6.20pm: RM1 billion provided to protect the wellbeing of the elderly.  This includes cash aid and funds for care institutions and activity centres for the elderly.

6.19pm: RM333 million allocated for Orang Asli development next year compared with RM305 million this year.

6.16pm: To promote Malaysia as a hub for e-sports development, RM30 million has been allocated to encourage international video game companies to invest in Malaysia to develop their products alongside local talent.

6.14pm: Employees Provident Fund (EPF) accounts will be restructured to facilitate retirement savings.

The EPF will introduce a “flexible account” that members can access at any time.

6.09pm: Putrajaya will continue bearing driving test fees for class B2 motorcycle licence, e-hailing and taxis. This will benefit more than 40,000 youth from underprivileged families.

6.08pm: Government to allocate RM2.4 billion next year to the Social Welfare Department. 

This is expected to benefit more than 450,000 people, especially hardcore poor households, the elderly, children and the disabled. 

Eligibility requirements have been expanded in line with the rise of the Poverty Line 2023, which is RM1,198 per month.

6.07pm: Putrajaya will raise the monthly salary ceiling for Socso contributions from RM5,000 to RM6,000 and increase cash interest at a rate of 20.2% for 1.45 million workers and their dependents.

6.04pm: RM500 million has been allocated to improve the participation rate of the People’s Income Initiative.

6.02pm: Some 700,000 Rahmah cash aid recipients will qualify for the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) initiative.

They will receive RM100 monthly over 12 months. 

Through Sara, recipients need only show their MyKad when buying certain items at retail stores.

5.58pm: The Social Security Organisation will continue with the “Career Building Programme” for gig workers to participate in career development programmes and microcredential skills training.

RM35 million is provided to fund training and income replacement incentives for 9,000 gig workers who attend the training programmes.

5.55pm: The Rahmah cash aid maximum rate has been increased from RM3,100 to RM3,700, while the minimum aid for youth has been increased to RM500 from RM350.

Next year, the first Rahmah cash aid payments will be increased to RM500 (from RM300 this year), set to be distributed before Ramadan.

5.52pm: RM58.1 billion has been set aside to fund government grants for the people, including subsidies and incentives.

5.50pm: The National Disaster Management Agency has been given RM300 million for flood preparation efforts.

This includes RM100 million to be disbursed immediately to ensure optimal flood readiness by year-end.

5.49pm: Budget 2024 includes RM2.6 billion for various subsidies and incentives for farmers and fishermen.

5.47pm: To prevent flash floods, RM20 million has been allocated for 150 local councils to repair damaged drains.

To prevent landslides, the government has provided RM563 million to repair and monitor slopes nationwide, as well as installing early warning systems for more than 2,000 high-risk slopes.

5.46pm: RM22 billion has been set aside under the 12th Malaysian Plan to finance flood mitigation projects.

Next year, RM11.8 billion will be used to fund 33 high-priority flood mitigation projects. The locations of these projects are:

– Lembangan Sungai Pahang

– Sungai Langat Phase 2 in Selangor

– Sungai Jelai in Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan

– Sungai Likas in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

– Kuching Phase 2 in Sarawak

– Baling Phase 2 in Kedah

– Integrated River Basin Management plan for Sungai Kelantan Phase 2 in Kelantan

Letters of acceptance (LOAs) for 24 projects are expected to be issued from this month, to the tune of RM5.1 billion. The remaining LOAs will be issued in the first quarter of 2024.

5.40pm: RM60 million allocated to raise the number of community rangers to 2,000 next year compared with 1,000 this year to improve enforcement in forest reserves.

Putrajaya also provides RM10 million to ease the burden of losses from human-wildlife conflict.

5.36pm: Government will continue aiding the developing of the local electric vehicle (EV) industry and encourage acceptance of EV use.

Anwar says the government has welcomed investments of over RM170 million from leading companies such as Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Gentari and Tesla Malaysia to install 180 EV charging stations.

Putrajaya will introduce rebates of up to RM2,400 to e-motorcycle buyers with an annual income of RM120,000 and below.

5.33pm: Putrajaya will raise the activation level of the rubber production incentive (IPG) to RM3 per kg, with an allocation of RM400 million. In Budget 2023, the IPG was raised from RM2.50 to RM2.70 per kg.

5.31pm: This year, government-linked companies (GLCs), and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) contributed a total investment value of RM130 billion.

5.28pm: RM2.4 billion allocated to Felda, Felcra and Risda to boost agricommodity activities and improve socio-economic positions of smallholders.

5.26pm: RM510 million is allocated for research and development endeavours under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry.

5.25pm: Putrajaya will relax the conditions of Malaysia My Second Home applications to attract foreign tourists and investors.

5.24pm: Government will introduce new initiatives under the Visa Liberalisation Plan. 

He said these include improving visa-on-arrival facilities, social visit passes and multiple-entry visa offers to draw tourists and investors especially from India and China.

5.23pm: Visit Malaysia Year 2026 will target 26.1 million foreign tourist arrivals with estimated domestic expenditure of RM97.6 billion.

5.20pm: The government will allocate RM6.8 billion for Technical Education and Vocational Training.

5.14pm: RM44 billion in loans and financing guarantees are available for the benefit of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs next year.

5.02pm: Government plans to grant, for a period of five years, a full income tax exemption to Labuan entities that carry out trading activities related to Islamic finance such as Islamic digital banking, Islamic digital exchanges, ummah-related companies and Islamic digital token issuers from 2024.

4.59pm: RM100 million will be allocated to maintain street lights, including replacing them with LED types that can save electricity by up to 60%. RM50 million is to be provided for the same purpose in local council areas throughout the country.

4.58pm: Sarawak and Sabah will have higher development allocations next year at RM5.8 billion and RM6.6 billion respectively.

4.55pm: RM150 million will be provided to maintain and repair public toilets in 150 local councils nationwide.

4.54pm: As of July, nearly 14,000 bankruptcy cases with debts below RM50,000 have been discharged. Next year, the “Second Chance Policy” will be extended to young people aged 40 years and below who have debts not exceeding RM200,000.

4.53pm: RM18 million to be set aside for the launch of legal reform affairs. This includes the preparation of the Bill for the Implementation of Alternative Punishment Against the Mandatory Death Penalty.

4.50pm: Government to allocate RM2.4 billion to build, maintain and refurbish the quarters of civil servants, teachers, hospitals, policemen, soldiers and firefighters.

4.44pm: Government will continue to bear an electricity subsidy of RM16 billion for 2023, especially for home users as well as micro, small and medium enterprises.

The government will continue to improve the targeted electricity subsidy approach according to the level of electricity consumption. 

It will continue giving electricity bill rebates of up to RM40 per month to severely poor households with an allocation of RM55 million. 

In addition, the government has also agreed to exempt electricity bill account deposit payments in its own name.

4.42pm: The electricity subsidy for the top 10% users has been removed, while subsidy for the remaining 90% is maintained. The government is able to save more than RM4.6 billion from the projected RM20 billion.

4.41pm: The current subsidised diesel is set at RM 2.15 against the market price of RM 3.75 per litre. The government is bearing RM1.60 per litre, costing it around RM1.5 billion in total.

4.37pm: Since February last year, the government has borne RM3.8 billion in egg and chicken subsidies.

4.36pm: Targeted subsidies are to be implemented in stages from next year. Savings from the measure will be partly channelled to the Rahmah cash aid, increasing the allocation from RM8 billion to RM10 billion.

4.33pm: This year’s aid and subsidy needs are expected to reach RM81 billion.

4.28pm: The government will activate a 5-10% luxury tax on items such as jewellery and watches.

4.27pm: To expand revenue, several taxation reforms will be implemented, including by increasing the service tax rate (excluding food and beverages and telecommunications) to 8% from 6%. 

4.23pm: Budget 2024 is valued at RM393.8 billion, the biggest one ever. Of that amount, RM303.8 billion is meant for operating expenditure, RM90 billion is for development expenditure and RM2 billion is for contingency savings.

4.22pm: Government’s 2024 revenue collection is expected to rise to RM307.6 billion from RM303.2 billion. The 2024 fiscal deficit is projected to decrease to 4.3% compared with the target of 5% this year and 5.6% in 2022.

4.21pm: The International Monetary Fund projects Malaysia’s economy will grow by 4.3%. Anwar says with the Madani Economy framework, the government is confident of achieving a nearly 5% growth.

4.19pm: The government anticipates gross domestic product growth of 4-5%.

4.13pm: Debt service payments are expected to amount to RM46.1 billion, or 15.2% of the 2024 revenue.

4.12pm: In the first half of 2023, the country managed to get approved foreign investments worth RM132.6 billion, which is more than 60% of this year’s target. The country has drawn RM63.3 billion in foreign direct investment involving 2,651 projects, expected to generate more than 51,000 jobs.

4.11pm: The unemployment rate dropped by 3.4% in August – the lowest post-pandemic rate so far, almost equal to the pre-pandemic rate (3.3%).

4.08pm: Malaysia’s debt and liabilities are valued at RM1.5 trillion. – October 13, 2023.