By Sherilyn Goh
Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz
CIMB group chief executive officer (CEO) Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz hopes that the government will bring down fiscal deficits by reviewing and restructuring its operating expenditure in its upcoming Budget 2016, while calling for tax rates to be kept unchanged for the next few years until the economy is on a stronger footing.
This, according to Zafrul, would ensure the development expenditure allocated under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) would not be compromised, while various infrastructure projects and development programs will be able to be carried out as planned.
“We are fully committed to the goal of the 11MP – to raise gross national income per capita by about US$700 (RM2,886.43) per year on average to US$15,690 in 2020, lifting Malaysia into the category of high-income nations,” said Zafrul in a statement.
Gross national income per capita stood at US$10,830 in 2014.
“However, as the government is also committed to balancing its budget and reducing public debt by 2020, we hope the government will be able to find a balance between constraints on operating expenditure and government spending to ensure that domestic consumption is not adversely affected,” he added.
Cost of living issue to be addressed
The CIMB group CEO also lauded various government initiatives for the people, calling for them to be continued in the upcoming Budget 2016 to increase their disposable incomes. He also called for cost of living issues to be addressed.
“The rakyat’s well-being programmes such as the affordable housing programmes should be continued alongside other programmes to encourage the private sector to generate more broad-based jobs creation.
“Coupled with this, the rising cost of living, particularly in the urban areas, ought to be addressed quickly and effectively to enable the rakyat to have more disposable income, and also to enable them to plan their finances more effectively.
“On financial planning, taking the long-term view, apart from the Private Retirement Scheme, perhaps the government could provide more incentives for the younger generation to plan their finances as early as possible in their working lives,” he said.
Budget 2016 is set to be tabled in Parliament on October 23 by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
You must be logged in to post a comment.