Need fiscal financial discipline and productive expenditure in the 2010 budget

DAP National Deputy Chairman and MP for Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw calls on the Central Government to improve the fiscal financial discipline and ensure productive expenditure.

It is imperative to try to increase the participation of women in various fields and to improve media freedom (this does not include religious, racial or other extremist views that can destroy the nation).

On 2.11.2009, Dr Tan took part in the debate on the 2010 Supply Bill ( Budget).

This budget contains many pleasant things such as the fight against corruption and the allocation for all forms of education amounting to RM55.7 billion, 29% of the total budget). Let us hope that all these will be value for money as expressed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib.

It is wise not to judge the book by its cover.

Ibarat burung: mulut manis jangan dipakai; perkataan manis selalu berisi semu di dalamnya.

Malaysia is facing political, economic and climate changes. The world economic recession has affected the country.

What is worying is the continuous budget deficit for the past 12 years. While it is necessary to provide welfare for the people, it is important to try to reduce the deficit. 2009 sees the deficit increasing to 7.4%. The forecast for 2010 is 5.6%. The 2010 budget is RM191.5 billion while that of 2009 is RM207.9 billion, a cut of RM6.4 billion. There is an effort to do something about the deficit. But, it is not enough. We need an effective plan to reduce it.

IMF says that budget deficit should not be more than 5%. We cannot imitate USA and Japan, the world's biggest and second biggest economy respectively. They have budget deficit for years. But, the per capita income of Japan has not gone down.

The two stimulation packages total RM67 billion. Hitherto, we are told that only less than RM10 billion have been used. This is unacceptable. There must be productive expenditure.

The local debt has has gone up to 52.4% and foreign debt has gone down to RM13.9billion. If national debt continues to go up, our credit rating will go up. Interest rate increases. This will give rise to inflationary pressure.

1Malaysia, Prosper together, aims towards high income economy, ensures hollistic and sustainable development with priority on the wellbeing of the people. For these to be meaningful, we have to ensure media freedom and increasing participation of women in various fileds.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw