#84 Malaysia’s Budget 2025
finds fiscal feasibilities
PMX walking with grassroots, touching stones while crossing sungai, in a whole-of-government approach to accelerate rakyat² wellbeing.
Though the Madani Government shall continue fiscal reforms to create ample fiscal space under the Public Finance and Fiscal Responsibility Act 2023 towards sustainable economic development, the neocolonial economic legacy, and the preceeding ethnocapitalism era of the New Economic Policy, will continue to burdened the rakyat² even with this Budget 2025.
Out of the projected RM$421 billion, already RM$335 billion or nearing 80% of the total national outlay is just for operating expenditure (OE) with only RM$86 billion devoted to economic development in education, health and housing constituting one-third in the socio-economic sector whereas a whole junk of RM$17.5 billion goes to the transport sector that shall inevitably benefit compradore capital which had not infrequently drove the country for a ride on public private partnership in ventures of financialisation capitalism.
Even with next year expanded budget allocation, the OE - 16% of GDP - emoluments shall continue to be the largest component which accounts 32%, and projected to grow by 6.2% to nearly RM$106 billion alone where basic salary has already risen ranging from 7% to 15% in a most inefficient civil sector according to the World Bank; indeed, the retirement charges, which account for 12.1% of OE, are expected to grow by 17.7% to reach RM$40.6 billion of which RM$30.3 billion has to be earmarked for pension payments while the remaining is given as gratuity payments and cash awards in lieu of accumulated leave.
From the New Economic Policy to the Madani Economic Model, sparkles in the economic growth landscape is not Industrialisation 4.0 nor the National Semiconductor Strategy but a dim scarcity of new productivity forces that are bruntly brutalising the state of a nation.
Further research papers shall be analysed and scripted on these exploration themes, and their related dimensions, in the following months by the STORM's collective on geoeconomics regarding those challenges ahead.
REFERENCES
Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia, Belanjawan 2025 Malaysia Madani
Green Party of Malaysia, Budget 2025: A Summary
Study Team on Rakyat2 Malaysia, Fiscal Policy in an underperforming economic development environment
Published postings during the week:
1] Crude Capitalism : Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market - a book review in Monthly Review;
2] A Year of Genocide in Gaza - Progressive International;
3] BRICS and G20 - Think BRICS;
4] Europe's Tariffs: how China should respond - Jian Junbo (简军波);
5] The Sabah-Sarawak-Secession movements: some preliminary notes - firestorms;
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with solidarity,