Malaysia's Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan tells CNA’s Melissa Goh what he is optimistic about, ahead of Budget 2025.
Q: The World Bank has described Malaysia's economy as being in a good place right now. What are the major drivers, basis of this strong recovery? The second thing: What the government has also done is that it's also encouraging GLICs to play a role in stimulating the economy. This is important because I think that's one key differentiation that Malaysia has, that not many countries actually have.
Q: But do you think the market expectation is absolutely crucial to get it rolling by the end of the year, in order to show the government’s seriousness in rationalisation? If you look at two years ago, I think we were hitting somewhere close to RM80-something billion for the total subsidy bill, plus social assistance. This year we’ll probably end up in the 60s. So next year, I'm hopeful that with what we've done, we will be well below that number.
Part of it may be looking at ways to have efficiencies in the system so that they can restore back margin. But there will also be winners who actually are importing foreign goods. Now, they're finding the cost of imports dropping. Past experience has shown resilience in the system.Commentary: Malaysia’s economic indicators are improving, so why aren’t Malaysians celebrating?
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