Budget 2022 : All the rakyat want is food on the table, jobs and stability

The hawkers were among the badly hit during the pandemic. Photo by Joshua Anand

By ZAIDI ISHAM ISMAIL
editor@dagangnews.com

KUALA LUMPUR Oct 27 - All eyes will be on Parliament this Friday. It's that time of the year when the finance minister dishes out measures on how the country plans to spend its money for 2022.

But the consensus is unanimous - all the rakyat want is to put food on the table, jobs and a stable country and economy post COVID-19.

Asian Institute of Management, Science and Technology University vice chancellor, Datuk Dr John Antony Xavier said the budget should focus on redressing the economic inequality wrought by the pandemic. 

'Many were made unemployed during the pandemic and economic opportunities should be provided so that jobs are aplenty for those who have been badly affected by the pandemic.  

This will require targeted safety nets for the B40. 

"It will require the government to promote vocational for the upskilling and reskilling of the unemployed and workers," Xavier told DagangNews.com.

Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia Business School Associate Professor Dr Razman Abdul Latiff said in a nutshell, since the budget is expected to be expansionary in nature, it is hoped that the budget will ensure fair and comprehensive distribution of assistances and initiatives to all groups in need.

The budget must also make sure there are enough infrastructure developments to be given to less developed states such as Sabah, Sarawak, Perlis, Kelantan and Kedah. 

Razman added there will be temptations by the government to make this budget a populist one especially catering to the youngsters due to Unidi18 and impending general election next year.

"But I hope the election goodies will be more sustainable in nature rather than one-off initiatives," Razman told DagangNews.com.

Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the expectation is that there will be continuous focus on capacity building especially in areas relating to entrepreneurship. 

"From the data, we could see that the share of household income from self-employment has gained more traction in recent years from 15.6% in 2016 to 17.3% and 17.4% during 2019 and 2020 respectively.

"Therefore, the government would need to come in and assist in a way that will help the existing and the incoming entrepreneur to be more successful in gaining business acumen, efficiency, market share and above all, profitability. 

This is given the fact that business landscape keeps on changing and the proliferation of technology in changing the competitive landscape is unstoppable forces. 

So, the gap in the entrepreneurial space would need to be filled by the government's capacity building program.

 There are a number of government agencies which have been entrusted to conduct training and relevant courses. 

What we need is perhaps better coordination among these agencies and ministries so that the information flows and the take up rate from the Malaysian citizens can be further improved," said Afzanizam.

These are trying times and the country's leaders must concoct extraordinary measures for the rakyat to tide things over.

Through a heartfelt budget, the rakyat can start to see hope flicker once again, to toil and put food on the table. - DagangNews.com