KUALA LUMPUR – Pakatan Harapan (PH) has outlined 12 proposals for Budget 2022, including an immediate injection of RM45 billion for the country’s Covid-19 fund.
Issuing its shadow budget today, the opposition said the government’s immediate priority is to embark on a “bold expansionary fiscal policy to rapidly shore up the healthcare system and assist households and businesses”, as PH previously emphasised in policy communications.
“We call for an immediate injection of RM45 billion as agreed under the MoU on transformation and political stability between PH and the government,” the coalition stated in its Budget 2022 strategy document released today.
Aside from the RM45 billion injection, PH also urged for the strengthening of Parliament as a bipartisan platform, the support for recovery of vulnerable sectors, creating “decent” jobs via growth generators, enhancing the social safety net for all, and reinforcing social services.
The opposition also mooted for the government to ensure decent living and mobility, protection of women and children, special measures for Sabah and Sarawak, promoting high-value investments via reindustrialisation, fiscal reforms, and special grants.
In the document, PH said at least RM4 billion out of RM45 billion should be allocated to the health ministry to upgrade hospital capacity, ramp up manpower, and subsidise self-testing kits, among others.
It said RM30 billion can be allocated for financial grants and subsidies for the economic sector, of which RM15 billion can be for investment for economic grants and soft loans, matched with appropriate tax incentives to immediately “pandemic-proof” workplaces, factories, and workers’ quarters.
This also included loan guarantees, grants and credit extensions for micro, small and medium enterprises, especially the food and beverage, retail, crippled tourism industries and local community-based businesses to aid their working capital cash flow and other commitments such as rental obligations.
“The government must be prepared to pre-empt a possible wave of defaults and bankruptcies in the non-financial corporate sector as more companies (especially SMEs) are still expected to continue to face liquidity and solvency risks in the coming months,” it said.
“The government can set up a company similar to Danaharta to purchase non-performing loans from the banking sector and assist businesses in restructuring their loans."
Additionally, PH also proposed RM5 billion in cash handouts to households, which is more than double the monthly welfare payments to support affected households for a year.
This proposal acknowledges the difficulties that M40 families (as well as the overall middle class that transcends the M40 classification) face and will require upgrading payments announced in the recent Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (Pemulih),” it said.
PH said the hardcore poor can have their Pemulih household payments increased from RM1,300 to RM2,500, the B40 segment from RM800 to RM1,900, while the M40 can have theirs increased from RM250 a month to RM1,100.
“The government should take note to have an equitable distribution of Pemulih payments to female household heads. Female-headed households earn about 40% less than the average households in Malaysia,” it said.
“Due to lack of access and education, many female heads of households are often left out. More efforts are required to reach out to these women who have slipped through the cracks.”
On this note, PH also urged the government to take into account dependent children in the cash payment calculation.
“We propose the government provide a monthly payment of RM100 per child for children belonging to B40 and M40 families. It is proposed that only children aged up to 12 years old be eligible for the program,” it said.
“This will ease the burden of new parents who are among those badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly through nursery and school closure. Furthermore, this measure will make the cash payment program responsive to family size.” – The Vibes, October 27, 2021
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