YOURSAY | Fighting corruption mantra pointless

 

YOURSAY | 'If partners in govt carry heavy baggage, it won’t mean a thing.’

Budget 2023 | Don't let differences stop us, fight corruption together - PM

BOBBYO: The same repetition of the mantra of fighting corruption is not going to change anything.

If you have partners in your government who carry heavy baggage, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, it will not mean a thing.

If the head of MACC is tainted, there will always be a presumption that he will dance to the tune of his new masters.

So, stop repeating it. The littoral combat ships scandal now is buried under the No Further Action file. The only files that are being opened are the opposition files.

What agreement had been made with jailed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak? As we know, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cannot make decisions without Najib's approval.

The release of MACC to be put under the purview of Parliament had not happened. It means that it remains under the control of the politicians. Anwar, you can deny all you want.

To fight corruption, MACC must be set free from the clutches of politicians. The leader in charge must not be tainted but respected and his reputation held in high esteem by Malaysians.

Apanama is back: Finance Minister Anwar, one thing I noticed about your budget is transparency. I hope this will be the norm in the coming years and decades.

As far as a country's finance is concerned, the people on the ground need to know the true and real situation. Nothing should be hidden from them.

It is good to let the country know about our debt, RM1.5 trillion. To be honest, we are in bad shape for a population of 33 million. However, it is manageable. I have confidence in you.

One thing good is your commitment to reducing the deficit to 3.2 by the year 2025. Also, the patching up of the leakage and wastage in our procurement system, which is a golden goose, with the Government Procurement Act.

As you mentioned, quickly gazette this act and put it in force so that in next year's auditor-general’s report we may not find any irregularities or at least minimum.

However, what troubles me are the debt servicing which amounts to RM46 billion and the hefty subsidies amounting to RM64 billion, totalling RM110 billion which is a big amount.

Imagine for RM110 billion how much we could do in terms of helping the B40, in education and health. But the money gets stuck in these two, debt servicing and subsidies.

At the moment, we should provide subsidies but they should be removed slowly over the years. For example, the eggs and chicken subsidies for the farmers beginning in June this year is a good move.

One favourite part is revenue. Anwar said: "At RM291.5 billion, revenue for 2022 was higher than what was collected in 2021.”

How about this year? Are you going to exceed the 2022 revenue? If yes, how are you going to do it? Remember, your operating expenditure is RM289.1 billion, short of RM2.4 billion against the revenue. How about any emergency fund?

I suggest we should have a mid-term review of this budget 2023 in order to "change the gear".

Luxury tax, sin taxes and capital gains may give revenue to the government but how much they could earn is yet to be seen.

People may buy luxury items overseas, so how we are going to tax them when they bring them into our country? Or is the tax just acceptable within the country?

Overall, this is not a "Robin Hood" budget but Al-Madani budget!

Anwar also mentioned a new mindset. We all should have a new mindset with RM1.5 trillion debt at the back of our minds. Wow, what a wonderful new mindset.

Just make sure we have a new mindset and stable government. Do not rock the boat with an old mindset.

Newday: Bleak outlook, debts and liabilities - bold headlines- bleak could translate to realistic, as that is what the rest of the world has been stating for some time. Even though the news is not good, at least it is the truth.

Our debt is straight up really scary and is far in excess of what the government of the previous few years would have us believe including the then smiley face finance minister, who put a spin on top of spin in all his statements.

He also seriously glossed over the potential for the impact of the global recession on Malaysia as Anwar pointed to.

At last, real warts and all, finance minister in action. I’m pinching myself to make sure it is not a dream.

GreenCheetah0027: "Around RM46 billion was used to pay debts alone".

A sizeable portion of this is for money the past governments borrowed but apparently ended up in the pockets of some people.

Will be great if Anwar can set up a special task force, with proper powers, to go after the money or assets purchased with the money. There could be billions to recover.

This will be a separate exercise from hauling the relevant persons to court.

VS: Spend and spend. After all, it is taxpayers’ money. No belt-tightening measures are in place. Are we going for another disaster like Sri Lanka or Pakistan to our economy?

Can't we exercise some degree of discretion and cost-saving in our budget? Cut wastages, reduce the number of ministers, deputies, and constituencies below 2,500 voters, cut salaries of government ministers, reduce perks and foreign holiday trips for our ministers, their families and their companying aides, cut down on pension payments for MPs who have served less than three years.

Living well above our earnings is not budgeting. Living within your means and keeping a surplus as reserves is a wise budget. Learn from your neighbour who always maintains a surplus budget. He only has a smile, and he smiles well.

And we call it budgeting. - Mkini