Government Subsidies may total RM81b this year, says Nor Mohamed
The government is estimated to spend RM81 billion on all forms of subsidies this year to help Malaysians cope with rising prices, the Second Finance Minister said.
Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the sum includes the subsidies for petrol, diesel, education, healthcare and text-books.
“The figure is huge, but his is what the government is doing to ensure that the people in this country are not unduly burdened by excessive prices,” the said during an interview on RTM1’s morning program, Selamat Pagi Malaysia, yesterday.
Nor Mohamed stressed that subsidy was a form of assistance to the people and part of the government’s budget. If this was not given, the prices of certain goods and services would rise very fast.
He said that although the government has been giving out subsidies all this while, it has taken steps to increase them recently in view of the fast-rising prices globally over which
The government is seeking to ease the burden on Malaysians through subsidies in different forms, he added.
Although petrol and diesel usually come to mind with regard to subsidies items, Nor Mohamed pointed out that the government also heavily subsidies the education sector.
He said that
“For example, education; if there are five children in a family, it will get RM2000 every month as subsidy. This will help the family in its budgets,” Nor Mohamed said, adding that not all countries fully subsidies education to the tertiary level.
Nevertheless, he refuted claims that
“We always focus on education to help lift people out of poverty and promote their upward mobility in society.
“But welfare state has a different meaning. It means that a government is providing almost full support for the unemployed even though these people may be not working by their own choice,” he said.
“In that sense, we don’t agree with the welfare state context as suggested by the opposition (political party). That is not productive and does not make economic sense,” he added.
By Chong Pooi Koon
16th Feb 08, Biz News, New Straits Times