Anwar wonders how gov't will tackle deficit

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is perplexed as to how Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak plans to reduce the budget deficit to 5.6 percent from 7.4 percent.

"The prime minister in his Budget tried to tackle several issues during a global economic crisis," said the former finance minister.

He said there are several essential weaknesses that are apparent, adding that Najib had not explained how the government plans to shrink the deficit.

He was responding to Budget 2010 which was unveiled by Najib in Parliament today.

Anwar, who is also Permatang Pauh MP, noted that Malaysia's foreign direct investment (FDI) has decreased drastically.

"The FDI figure is surprising. It has gone down from RM19.7billion to RM3.6billion. This needs to be investigated because it is not consistent with regional countries as China and India where investment has increased recently," he said.

Nevertheless, Anwar lambasted all that was announced in the budget and credited the government for facilitating the people especially on tax reduction.

"However, there are also additional strains on the rakyat, for example, the charge on credit cards will burden about two million people," he said.

He also addressed the fact that the total expenditure allocated is RM191.5 billion, which is 11.2 percent less that what was allocated last year (RM215.7 billion).

"This is worrying because when the income decreases (but) budget has not increased, we cannot defend the pace of growth that is expected," he said.

Good governance needed

Anwar also said that he was shocked that the premier did not show gratitude to the armed forces, who had helped Barisan Nasional bag the Bagan Pinang polls recently.

"This is the first time in my memory of budget speeches that the armed forces has not been thanked... looks like they just won (the elections) and they have already forgotten," he added.

Another worrying aspect is the sale of prime assets in the Federal Territory and its bordering areas, said Anwar, adding that if the procurement process is not transparent, it may end up in the wrong hands.

"I have no qualms over the attempt to ensure Malaysia remains competitive... but actions speak louder. There is no strong emphasis and commitment to show good governance," he said.

"You have seen the Auditors-General's report, and we commend the Pakatan (Rakyat) states but the waste and the level of corruption and leakages (in BN-run states) is horrendous.

"You can spend billions of ringgit on ministries and sectors but we are not convinced about the capacity to ensure that the implementation can be done efficiently to reduce wastage and corruption," he added.

Populist approach

Meanwhile, PAS vice-president Nasharuddin Mat Isa (Bachok-PAS) said the government had adopted a populist approach.

"On the surface I can see that there are a few offers given to the public that can be considered benfits such as the personal tax which has been reduced," he said.

He, however, focussed on the the fact that local universities have been encouraged to generate income.

"I'm worried that these will be used as an approach by universities to become business driven institutions rather than to develop human capital," he added.

Moreover, he said Najib did not explain what was the progress made thus far of the second stimulus package introduced at the end of last year.

"The government has to also think of new incentives to encourage more foreign investment into Malaysia," he added.

The PAS leader was surprised that the country's broadband development was only 25 percent while it is 88 percent in Singapore, 64 percent in Japan and 90 percent in South Korea.

Why discriminate the rest?

Penang Chief Minister and Bagan DAP MP Lim Guan Eng was the first to congratulate the government on its effort on reducing tax.

But he asked why tax imposed for investors of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority was only 15 percent when the rest of the country had to pay 26 percent.

"How can that be '1Malaysia'? In fact, we are having one country, two systems. You are discriminating against all other Malaysians except those who reside in Iskandar, including the prime minister's own home state of Pahang and other states such as Sabah, Sarawak, Penang and Kelantan.

"Where is '1Malaysia, together we prosper'? We hope this incentive of reducing the tax rate can be applied equally to all Malaysians," he said.

He also suggested that the government pour out money to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country by increasing wages to more than RM650 especially in West Malaysia.

"If Pakatan comes to power we can wipe out hardcore poverty within one year, which this government could not do for the past 52 years," said Lim.

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