Maiden Budget – Long on rhetoric and short on the Specific
Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, MP for Kuala Selangor. (An abridged version of this sent to a local publication).
Beyond the usual ‘more of the same’ goodies that have been packed for almost all, I have no qualm to say that the budget has really nothing to shout about. I wrote a piece of my analysis on the budget and posted on my weblog the same night but in BM though. I’ve decided to call it Bajet Sulung Najib: Macam Ada Tak Kena”.
Much in the same vein, I’m fully committed to conclude that Finance Minister may be spot on in identifying the causes of our predicament in the flagging economy. However, perhaps being his maiden budget, he was evidently long on rhetoric and short on the specific ie on actual details of how to make it happen. Incidentally, he repeated the magic word ‘innovation’ 24 times in his 2-hour speech.
Constrained by space, let me focus on his idea of leapfrogging the low-middle economy into a high income economy. Undoubtedly a shackle and a legacy of the BN’s government, that has to be broken soonest. It was once the critical reason for our competitiveness ie the low cost labour, when Vietnam or Myanmar was unheard of. It remains a trap – ‘low-wage-low-value-added’ trap.
But perusing his speech again, I failed to see where the specifics are. Besides the generic measures, the like of increasing private investments, Islamic hub, green technology, R&D still meager though comparatively, scholarships, tourism sector, what is really new, you may ask.
Quite notably, there was no mention of minimum wage laws. The courage to put this in place is certainly a brave first step in the right direction. Over reliance on cheap and unskilled foreign labour is the biggest bottle-neck. We must dismantle this. It may be daunting but do it you must, judiciously though. A high-income economy must surely be tied to productivity. For a start, Najib addressing hard-core and relative poverty is indeed commendable. That’s the second bottleneck though not directly related to the critical success factor of achieving a high-income economy.
