KUALA LUMPUR, October 11- Several opposition leaders today admitted that the 2015 Budget tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Friday was beneficial to the people, but there were still room for improvement.They said among the improvement that could be done was by reviewing the distribution of the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M), efforts to fight corruption and mechanisms to reduce price of consumer products.
Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is also PKR deputy president, hoped that the government would also give continuous focus on the people’s economy.”I think BR1M is not really helping the people because it is just a one-off payment and is not given continuously. In fact, it cannot even ensure continuity of economic growth,” he said.
However, Azmin commended the government’s move to review the salary of members of the administration and to postpone its decision on the matter to a more appropriate time.This includes the salary of the prime minister, deputy prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers.
Meanwhile, PAS Information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar said although it was a good budget, there were certain areas that needed more focus from the government, such as in the effort to fight corruption.”The government needs to find a way to combat corruption and a method to help alleviate the burden of the people, especially the underprivileged and low-earners,” he said.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on the other hand said the budget did not focus on efforts to tackle possible price hikes, including fuel price, due to the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) from April next year.
“The GST is not only about exemption, but also about an approach that will cause price hikes,” he said.Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is also DAP secretary-general, meanwhile, said that he supported the budget, which he described as very beneficial for women.
However, he said the federal government should intensify effort to combat corruption if they really wanted a people’s budget.”If it’s meant to be for the people, cronyism should be eradicated because it is quite clear that corruption is now a critical problem, but I don’t really see the effort to combat it,” he said.
– BERNAMA
