4 priorities of Malaysia Budget 2021: Incentives to support industry, empowering service delivery, and more

Malaysia's Budget 2021, which will be tabled on 6 November 2020, will cover four core thrusts, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in a live press conference on Tuesday (13 October). 

As cited by a Bernama report, shared on the Prime Minister's Office website, one core thrust announced by the PM was targeted support for economic vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that many groups were still affected by the outbreak even with the help of the government's various stimulus packages.

Thus, PM Muhyiddin said Budget 2021 will be providing "another form of assistance and support" for the groups.

The second core thrust would focus on supporting industries through a specific set of incentives, once the government has implemented any recovery measures. 

Additionally, the third and fourth core thrusts would focus on empowering service delivery, and developing sustainable living. 

According to the PM, these thrusts would aim to prevent the B40 Group from hitting poverty, by providing them with a "strong safety net."

He said: "My wish is to make the rakyat (the people) and businesses more resilient in the face of uncertainties due to COVID-19 and for the sake of national progress."

While this is so, the PM noted that the Budget would still focus on efforts to save lives and the livelihoods of the people, through three main pillars - empowering the rakyat, supporting businesses, and continuing to strengthen the economy.

In a separate report by Bernama, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has said that the Budget will "underline a combination of business-friendly policies, prudent fiscal management, and effective transformation tools, to build the nation's resilience against future economic shocks."

Speaking at the Malaysian Economic Summit 2020 on Monday (12 October), he added: "These stimulus packages have cushioned the impact for people and businesses by adding over 3% to this year’s GDP growth. By focusing on these areas, this will put us in a better position to ride on the growth trajectory ahead."

Apart from the above, he shared that the government will continue playing its role in upgrading the gig economy, which is "fast becoming an integral part of the nation's growth", to transform the traditional sectors, as well as to streamline the supply and demand in the job market.

View PM Muhyiddin's press conference here, and Tengku Zafrul's address here. 

Photo / Screenshot of the live press conference, PM Muhyiddin's Facebook page