PETALING JAYA: The Penang state government has described the revised 2016 Budget as regressive not progressive.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the revised Budget estimates and allocations announced this week comprised a backward financial package that could hamper the country’s economic growth.
Lim criticised the government’s cuts in university scholarships as “unacceptable”, and said the federal government had reduced itself to the level of a state government.
He said a 3 percent reduction in employee contributions to the Employees Provident Fund would not help the people much, as it was a temporary measure to give people extra cash to spend.
He urged the federal government to ease housing loans to first-timer housebuyers so that they could afford to purchase property.
Lim said Malaysia would not be able to achieve the RM65,000 per capita income level needed for developed nation status by 2020 as it would be difficult for Malaysia to achieve the targeted 10% growth.
He predicted that the target deadline for high-income status could be extended to 2025.
Source from FMT NEWS
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