Budget 2025 Inclusive, None Marginalised - Saraswathy

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Budget 2025 tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Friday (Oct 18) is an inclusive budget meant for all Malaysians, not limited to any race or community.

Deputy Unity Minister K. Saraswathy said Malaysians should look at the budget as an initiative for the whole society, with specific attention given to certain aspects, including improving the quality of education and understanding in the mother tongue for every layer of the society.

"(For example) the allocation for education, the Prime Minister had previously stressed that the quality of education in primary schools, including Tamil and Chinese-type schools, ought to be improved.

"So, not only the quality of education but also their understanding of their mother tongue. For example, in Tamil schools, (the total number of) Tamil language teachers must be increased. The people must view this as a budget for the people and not race-based,” she told Bernama.

Elaborating, Saraswathy said the MADANI government had also allocated RM100 million to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA), which can be described as the government's continued responsibility towards the socio-economic development of the third largest community in the country.

She said the budget also reflected the government's cautious approach to managing the country's finances, by taking into account the country's challenging financial situation as the national debt now stands at RM1.5 trillion.

She said this could be seen from Anwar's commitment to reduce annual borrowing in stages, from RM100 billion from 2021 to 2022 to RM80 billion in 2025.

"The Prime Minister also stressed that no mega projects (be included in this budget). The government will give priority to three aspects, namely education, health and security. Over 42.3 per cent of the RM420 billion allocated under Budget 2025 has been set aside for these three fields,” she said.

She said the government is committed to improving the quality of education, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as a vital step towards generating higher income for individuals.

She added that the health aspect had also been given serious attention, particularly in tackling obesity and non-communicable diseases, which are on the rise, as well as the demographic change towards an ageing nation, in addition to the need to strengthen the defence aspect due to the increasingly complex and challenging global position.

Saraswathy said this was important to ensure sustainable development and the well-being of the people.

On the allocation for the National Unity Ministry, she said there was an 11 per cent increase and that the allocation also covered digitalisation initiatives for agencies under the ministry, including the National Archives, the National Library of Malaysia and the National Museum.

"We hope that from the allocation we got, we will use it the best way possible so that we can show a positive result,” she said. 

Under Budget 2025, the ministry was allocated RM711.34 million, comprising RM587.35 million for operating expenses and RM123.99 million for development expenses.

Anwar also announced an allocation of RM50 million for the programmes on Unity, National Integration and Harmony in fostering the spirit of unity and identity.

-- BERNAMA