Friday, September 6, 2013

Ideas pour in for Budget


Published: Thursday September 5, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM 
Updated: Thursday September 5, 2013 MYT 8:34:22 AM
REPORTS BY MAZWIN NIK ANIS, MARTIN CARVALHO, SIMON KHOO AND RAZAK AHMAD

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will definitely not be short of ideas on what to include in the 2014 Budget as scores of people have shared their budget wishlist with the Prime Minister.

The main suggestions were on housing, safety and security, transportation, social safety net and welfare of government employees.

Noel Then Yun Sen suggested in Najib’s blog www.1Malaysia.com.my that the Government should take effective measures to reduce deficit to prevent the country from falling into a serious financial crisis.

Another person, Raze, suggested that food production be given a stronger push to ensure sufficient sup­ply and prevent monopoly in the sector.

Suhaimi proposed subsidy for food items such as rice, flour and sugar be enjoyed by citizens only, adding that those who wanted to buy subsidised items must show their identity card to make the purchase.

Andrew Neng Chien Wong suggested the Government abolish subsidy for such items, claiming that although he is an honest trader for such goods, there are some bad hats who cheat to reap higher profit.

Muthukrishnan Murugiah suggested that tax relief of RM3,000 be given every five years for households to install or upgrade CCTV and that the Government implement GST at a low entry level of 1.5% which doesn’t include common food items.

Bashiran Ab­dul Ghani said the 2014 Budget should consider abolishing inc­ome tax for senior citizens aged 60 years and above.

“We are still working bec­ause we still have debts. Please help us. Spare us from (paying) income tax,” he said.

Najib, in his Aug 23 blog posting, said suggestions from the public for the Budget would be submitted to the Finance Ministry for consideration.

The 2014 Budget will be tabled in Parliament on Oct 25.

No comments:

Post a Comment