Budget 2018 Malaysia Highlights

BY FRED VICTOR.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak has tabled the RM280 billion Budget for 2018, prior to the next general election which should be called by this year. The Budget 2018 Malaysia was themed, “Prospering  An Inclusive Economy, Balancing Between  Worldly And Hereafter, For The Wellbeing of the Rakyat, Towards The TN50 Aspiration. For corporate/SME business planning and budgeting purpose, some highlights are listed below:

Sustainable Development 

• RM5 billion allocated under Green Technology Funding Scheme.

• RM1.4 billion to reduce non-revenue water program.

• RM1.3 billion to build Off-River Storage as an alternative water source.

• RM517 million for flood mitigation plans nationwide.

Reduction in Income Tax Rates

• Reduction in individual income tax rates:

– RM20,001 – RM35,000: 5% to 3%

– RM35,001 – RM50,000: 10% to 8%

– RM50,001 – RM70,000: 16% to 14%

• Increase disposable income between RM300-RM1,000 while 261,000 do not have to pay tax.

Goods & Service Tax (GST)

• No change to Goods and Services Tax but government to propose either exemption or zerorising certain items and services.

– local councils

– reading materials

– cruise operators

– construction of schools and places of worship funded by approved donations

– oil and gas equipment imports under lease agreement

– import of big ticket items like planes and ships

– management and maintenance of homes with strata titles

Other Highlights

• RM100 million with a 70% government-guaranteed loan for the furniture export industry.

• RM200 million allocated for training programmes, grants and SME easy loans under SME Corp; and close to RM82 million for halal products and industry development.

• RM2 billion set aside for 70% government-guaranteed loans.

• RM5 billion allocated for start-up capital for businesses.

• RM7 billion allocated to Skim Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan.

• SMEs expected to contribute 41% of GDP by 2020.

• Private sector investment is expected to reach RM260 billion by 2018 and will be the engine of growth.

• Total investments in the country is expected to increase by 6.7% contributing to 25.5% to the GDP for 2018.

• RM26.34 billion for economic sector; RM11.72 billion for the social sector; RM5.22 billion for the security sector; RM2.72 billion for general administration sector.

• Administration budget is RM119.82 billion; other expenditure is RM1.08 billion; asset procurement is RM577 million.

• For 2018, federal government is expected to collect RM239.86 billion in revenue.

• Allocation for Budget 2018 is RM280.25 billion, an increase of over RM20 billion.

• B40 household income has increased to RM3,000 per month from RM2,629 for the period 2014-2016.

• Monthly median income has increased from RM4,585 in 2014 to RM5,288 in 2016.

• Current per capita income stands at RM40,713, expected to reach RM42,777 by 2018.

• Our international reserves now stand at US$101.4 billion.

• In August, exports hit a high of RM80 billion, recording double-digit growth.

• 69% or 2.26 million new jobs created so far from the target 3.3 million to be created by 2020.

• 3  international credit rating agencies have reaffirmed our A-rating with stable prospects.

• Looking at 2009, our fiscal deficit was at 6.7% of the GDP and is expected to decrease to 3% in 2017 and 2.8% in 2018.

• Actual private investment for 2016 is over RM211 billion.

• Government projection growth of between 5.2% to 5.7% for 2017, higher than the projection in March of between 4.3% and 4.8%.

• Projected GDP increase from 4.9% to 5.2% for 2017.

• The country has had a growth rate of 5.7% in the first half of 2017.

Besides, SMEs have received considerable attention from the government which has set aside RM20 billion under the 2018 Budget for the development purposes of the industry. For instance, SME Corp has been given a RM200 million allocation for training, promotional and financing programs.

Further, there is also an allocation of RM245 million to be channelled to automation segment whereby companies adopting smart manufacturing concept will be given matching grants.

The additional allocation for SMEs will help motivate government agencies, especially SME Corp, in line with the nation’s aim to achieve 21% total exports and contribute about 41% to the economy by 2020 under the SME Masterplan.

**About GECB

GECB is a Malaysian-based SME & Startup consulting firm headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Since inception in 2003, the company has been pioneering professional business plan and company profile services in Malaysia, and has assisted many local and overseas SMEs, large corporations and government agencies to grow business. For more info, please contact +603 2715 4356 or +6017 330 8077 and/or email info@geconsult.org today.