All Eyes on Budget 2024

In an article by The Edge, Shahrill Basri and Zahid Izzani break down Malaysia’s Budget 2024 that was tabled to the parliament by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, 2023 who is also the Finance Minister. Deemed the biggest budget to be tabled by far, it aims to shift away from blanket subsidies and focus on aiding lower-income groups.

At RM393.8 billion, the Budget 2024 is the largest yet supply bill to be tabled. Of this amount, a record RM303.8 billion has been set aside as operating expenditure (OpEx) while RM90 billion has been allocated towards development expenditure (DevEx). The fiscal deficit is seen narrowing to 4.3% of GDP in 2024, in anticipation of economic growth of 4% in 2023, and 4%-5% in 2024 on the back of a soft landing for the global economy.

Budget 2024 will have three key thrusts, namely delivering reforms to enhance governance and public delivery system, transforming the economy and businesses, and elevating the wellbeing of the rakyat.

The Budget 2024 will also reinforce the government’s commitment towards fiscal reforms to address the twin challenges of a less robust global economic outlook and Malaysia’s financial constraints.

In addition, it will introduce measures to initiate the National Energy Transition Roadmap which identified energy as a key engine of growth, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, which will build upon the strength of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector, as well as the realigned 12th Malaysia Plan which aspires to strengthen sustainability, develop a prosperous society, and put us on a path towards becoming a high-income nation.