The absence of an allocation to compensate toll concessionaires for not rising toll rates in the 2017 Budget tabled by the prime minister yesterday indicates one thing - brace for toll hikes in 2017.

“I believe the government has made the decision to not compensate concessionaires and toll rates will go up.

“I don’t know which highway concessionaires will raise their toll rates in 2017, but we know Works Minister Fadilah Yusof said the government is negotiating with several highway concessionaires, including for the North South-Expressway (Plus),” PKR’s Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said.

The likelihood of toll rate hikes in 2017 was not mentioned in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s budget speech.

The allocation for cooking oil subsidy is also missing in the federal estimated expenditure report, despite the government assuring that the cooking oil subsidy stays.

What else did the PM gloss over or just did not mention in his speech yesterday?

Education

The ministry’s development spending allocation was slashed by RM856 million.

While spending on textbooks, food aid, operations of primary and secondary schools as well as polytechnic colleges received a boost, others were not so lucky:

  • Public varsities - RM1.46 billion cut
     
  • Teaching hospitals - RM155 million cut for teaching hospitals (affecting Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia and Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia)
     
  • Food assistance for residential schools - RM13.5 million cut
     
  • Travel assistance for residential school students - RM3.6 million cut
     
  • No more free milk for schoolchildren (2016 allocation: RM78 million)
     
  • No more allocation for upgrades to school buildings (2016 allocation: RM70 million)
     
  • No more federal micro scholarships (2016 allocation: RM100 million)

Health

The health budget grew, with boosts seen in outpatient and inpatient treatment allocations, including for dental services. But several services will suffer cutbacks:

  • Blood transfusions - RM21 million cut
     
  • Pharmacy and public supply - RM86 million cut (A separate item marked ‘Farmasi dan bekalan’ (pharmacy and supply) sees a cut of RM265.32 million)
     
  • Medical research - RM9.05 million cut

Jakim, BTN and NSC

  • Islamic Development Department (Jakim) - RM29.40 million cut (mostly from Sabah Jakim and Sarawak Jakim)
     
  • National Civics Bureau (BTN) - RM11.67 million cut
     
  • National Security Council - RM6.19 million cut

Security

Police receive a boost in allocation, but much of it is going to management while areas like maintaining public order and criminal investigations receive cuts of several million ringgit.

In defence, management of the East Sabah Security Zone receive more funds (up RM35.76 million), along with the Lahad Datu base (up RM9.95 million) and national service (up RM32.19 million), among others, but airspace and maritime defence suffer cuts.

Areas in security which face cuts are:

  • Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) - RM44.81 million cut
     
  • Airspace defence - RM891.79 million cut

  • Maritime defence - RM702.07 million cut

  • Army - RM195.12 million cut

Pricier goods for Sabah, Sarawak and interiors?

Just before the 13th general election, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced a price uniformity programme to ensure prices of goods in East Malaysia do not dramatically differ from peninsular Malaysia.

However, under Budget 2017, it appears this policy will be scaled back.

The 1Malaysia 1Harga programme under the Ministry of Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism will be reduced from RM66.1 million to RM20 million.

Introduced in February 2013, it was meant to standardise the prices of basic necessities such as sugar, flour, cooking oil in 1kg packets.

Another item with a similar function, the necessity goods, LPG and community drumming programme, saw its budget slashed from RM210 million to RM100 million.

The programme is meant to standardise the prices of goods in the interiors that are normally more expensive.

Under this programme, the items covered include ST 15 percent rice, cooking oil, flour, sugar (necessity goods), liquid petroleum gas and petrol and diesel (community drumming).

The Federal Expenditure Estimate report is accessible on the Treasury Department’s website. Find anything interesting we missed? Let us know in the comments section below or email us at editor@malaysiakini.com