<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Aug 29, 2008
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>M'sia's 'caring budget' <!--10 min-->
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Mr Abdullah announced a variety of measures aimed at easing the impact of rising prices of food and fuel, which have triggered public protests and diminished his support. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
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KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S government on Friday offered tax cuts and perks in a 2009 budget designed to restore support for the beleaguered administration and spur growth in the face of a global slowdown.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi defended his handling of the economy, which he forecast to grow by 5.7 per cent this year and 5.4 per cent in 2009, and attacked the resurgent opposition led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.
'Political rhetoric cannot contribute to the wellbeing of Malaysians nor the economic progress of the nation,' he said in his budget speech.
'Efforts by certain parties to destabilise the country by attempting to seize power through illegitimate means and without the mandate of the people, must be rejected.'
Anwar, who was sworn in as a lawmaker on Thursday after winning a by-election, wants to unseat Mr Abdullah by Sept 16 through parliamentary defections. Anwar's opposition alliance won an unprecedented 82 of Parliament's 222 seats in March general elections - 30 short of a majority.
Mr Abdullah warned that 'efforts by certain parties to destabilise the country by attempting to seize power through illegitimate means and without the mandate of the people must be rejected'.
'I will not allow disturbances to continue. I will not permit the mandate given by the people to be seized' from the ruling party, he said.
In a clear reference to Anwar's pledge to cut retail gasoline prices if he seizes power, Mr Abdullah blasted his 'populist claims'.
If implemented, they 'would undermine the government's financial position and bequeath a bankrupt nation to the next generation,' Mr Abdullah said.
Mr Abdullah announced a variety of measures aimed at easing the impact of rising prices of food and fuel, which have triggered public protests and diminished his support.
Income tax is to be cut by 1.0 percentage point for middle- and high-income earners, employees' transport allowances are to be made tax-deductible, and rebates were increased to remove some 100,000 taxpayers from the tax net.
Civil servants will receive a one-month salary bonus, and to provide a better alternative to private cars, 35 billion ringgit will be spent on improving public transport over 2009-14.
To ease the impact of rising prices on consumers, import duties on some food and household items, including microwaves and kettles as well as biscuits and fruit juice, have been slashed.
=> 66%: Msia got fcuk up bumee policy! U like it so much go there to be 2nd class citizen lah! *hee*hee*
34%: Better than you being ripped off by your beloved Old Fart's Familee and treated like dirt class citizen in favour of FTrash, right?
66%: Shut up or I'll kok you with my rice bowl?
34%: U mean that coolie rice bowl of yours?
66%: KNN! Mai gar lee gong liao!
Mr Abdullah said the 'caring budget' showed the government was 'responsive to the concerns of the people and has taken measures to lighten the burden of all Malaysians, particularly the lower-income group'.
'The Barisan Nasional government will continue to manage the economy responsibly,' he said.
'The opposition, on the other hand, continues to make populist claims which if implemented would undermine the government's financial position and bequeath a bankrupt nation to the next generation.'
Anwar, who returned to parliament this week a decade after being sacked as deputy premier and jailed for sodomy and corruption, dismissed the budget as 'disappointing'.
'There are sweeteners here and there but it fails to address some fundamental flaws in the economic policies,' he told reporters.
'Our problem is competitiveness, it is the failure to attract FDI (foreign direct investment) and the failure to switch economic policies to become more resilient.'
Anwar has promised to slash fuel prices if he becomes premier, in a powerful gesture after Abdullah's 41 per cent overnight hike announced in June triggered widespread anger in a car-dependent nation.
The government projected the budget deficit for this year to reach 4.8 per cent of GDP, substantially higher than the 3.1 percent forecast earlier. The shortfall should ease to 3.6 percent in 2009, it said.
Mr Abdullah said that education, health and internal security would receive extra funding of a total 1.5 billion ringgit (S$626.6 million). In an effort to shore up the government's rural support base, 5.6 billion ringgit will be spent on improving food security over three years by reducing production costs and encouraging higher agricultural output. -- AFP, AP