Category: Budget

Programme and performance budgeting (PPB) was first introduced in Malaysia in 1969 and experience with operating and developing the system carries lessons for other countries. The initial introduction under the influence of external advisers, involved treating PPB as a mechanical exercise in which right procedures had to be followed. From 1972 the strategy changed to… Continue reading Modernizing the Budget System: the Malaysian Experience

In a country in which the national budget constitutes a substantial percentage of the GNP, over time the policy decisions on both revenues and expenditures have far reaching implications for the well-being of the people and their economy. Taxation measures, including the grant of tax incentives to specific types of industries, have an important effect… Continue reading Budgeting as an Instrument of Development: The Malaysian Experience

The almost USD 50 billion budget is the costliest ever in Malaysia’s five decades of independence. It is 10.9% higher than the previous one and nearly three times that of the 1998 budget (not accounting for inflation).   Publication: Opinion Asia, 10 Sep 2007.  Author:  Liew, Chin Tong.  Download

2020 is 13 years away. If Malaysia is serious about achieving Wawasan 2020, farreaching political and economic reforms are necessary.   Publication: MIERScan, 16 July 2007.  Download

Understandably, all eyes are on the forthcoming budget to be unveiled on 1 September. The government has been pursuing a pragmatic fiscal policy in recent years, with deficit budgets to stimulate the economy, in the aftermath of the 1997/98 financial crisis. What makes this fiscal policy all the more palatable is that the deficits have… Continue reading The Need To Step Up Fiscal Stimulus

In reducing government expenditure, the government hopes that it can bring back the private sector on track as a major engine of growth for the economy. Although the policy is right, one wonders if the timing is suitable.  Publication: MIERScan, 14 February 2005.  Author: Azmi Setapa.   [Download]