Rafizi to present Bersama's shadow budget tonight

 

Before Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim presents Budget 2027 this Friday, Bersama will first present its shadow budget today.

Party leader Rafizi Ramli is expected to submit Bersama's proposal in a presentation at its Puchong headquarters at 8pm, with the public invited to attend.

The shadow budget, he said, will outline an alternative approach to addressing the country's main challenges, and has undergone an econometric process to ensure the figures used are grounded in reality.

“Several major shifts are proposed, challenging the 'business-as-usual' and 'conventional wisdom' approaches that have formed the basis of previous government budgets.

“Budget 2027 is likely the last budget of Anwar's administration before the 17th general election, and any high-cost sweetener programmes will burden the country's financial position as well as future generations.

“The presentation (of the shadow budget) will be followed by a forum involving independent economic figures,” he said in a statement, adding that the full budget proposal document will also be uploaded to the Bersama website tonight.

While Rafizi was economy minister under the Madani government, he had introduced the Central Database Hub (Padu) as a measure to implement targeted diesel subsidies and had also proposed a T15 income group classification concept that should be applied for the provision of government aid and subsidies.

After leaving the government last year, he insisted that Putrajaya should have been able to manage global oil price shocks better if the targeted subsidy system based on Padu had been implemented earlier.

The government, he said, agreed in 2023 to float oil prices and implement targeted subsidies via cash transfers. This would have ensured only those eligible received the subsidies.

However, the former Pandan MP claimed that political considerations had hindered the Padu plan.

Rafizi, also a former PKR deputy president, was previously among the prominent leaders presenting alternative budgets while in the opposition in 2012, 2015, and 2017.

Govt: Budget 2027 for the people

Analysts are reportedly expecting the government to present this Friday a budget reaching RM450 billion.

The Finance Ministry explained that the fifth Madani budget aims to continue harvesting the results of the Madani Economy Framework in steering Malaysia forward.

According to the ministry, Budget 2027 is a budget owned by the people that has been refined and planned based on outcomes, taking into account feedback from the public, voices of the business community, and thoughts from stakeholders. - Mkini