The previous two general elections had witnessed a significant swing with regard to Chinese voters casting their ballots for the opposition.

However, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai believes that Budget 2016 can rope in Chinese support for BN.

"Oh yes, at least the Chinese community will see that we are a responsible government,” he replied when the question was posed to him at the parliament lobby today.

“It’s a good fiscal budget, not spending more than what we can afford," he added.

Liow said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who tabled the budget this evening, had taken into consideration MCA's proposals, which was evident by the tax reductions on the middle income group.

"We are happy that the prime minister really focused on helping the M40 (middle 40 percent), the group that earns in between RM3,500 and RM8,000.

“We are happy they reduced the tax bracket for this group," he added.

Among the budget goodies specifically for the Chinese community include an additional RM90 million for micro-credit loans for Chinese traders, and a RM40 million allocation to upgrade Chinese new villages.

Liow also believed next year's budget would help improve the country's economy thanks to the continuation of aid policies.

"We manage to ensure that all welfare cases were not withdrawn (in the budget).

“A lot of good projects were not withdrawn, in fact the prime minister added on to whatever existing projects.

"Old projects like the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) are continued. Support for the disabled and even support for schools are continued. We hope this further enhances our country's economic growth," he said.

The Chinese community's approval rating for the government hit an all-time low of five percent, according to a Merdeka Centre survey of voters in peninsula Malaysia in August.

The government's approval rating among Malays also went below 50 percent for the first time, hitting an all-time low of 31 percent.

INFOGRAPHIC: BUDGET 2016 AT A GLANCE

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