"We are upset and disappointed over this malicious discrimination and marginalisation as Penang got nothing from the budget," cried Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in a press conference today.

Lim said Penang was left out of the budget, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday, although the states contributed RM6.5 billion in annual taxes to Putrajaya.

"All states got something, including Malacca, which received an allocation to expand its domestic airport," noted the DAP secretary-general.

"But Penang International Airport, which is already functioning beyond its capacity, has no allocation or expansion plans.

"Also there is no allocation for public transport which the state has been asking for several years," Lim lamented.

He also said it was "regrettable and malicious" that Najib's budget failed to include Penang.

Benefits questionable

Meanwhile, Lim questioned if the people would actually benefit from the 2016 budget, which Najib's supporters say is based on the "people's economy".

Lim said the government received an extra RM21 billion net revenue by replacing the sales and service tax (SST) with the goods and services tax (GST).

He explained the RM21 billion is derived from the difference between the total collection of GST, which is RM39 billion and the amount the government would have gained from SST, which is about RM18 billion.

"But according to the federal government list, although it has collected RM21 billion via GST, it only gave back RM764 million to the people through reduction of income tax and giving a zero GST rating to certain items," Lim said.

"It is like I took RM26 from you and returned RM1," he quipped.

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