Do we still need a race-based budget?
A prominent economist says Budget 2015 was crafted to make everyone happy, but falls short on addressing structural economic issues.
James Sivalingam, Free Malaysia Today
Economist Ramon Navaratnam believes Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak tries too hard to give Malaysia a people-friendly budget and does it at the expense of addressing key structural economic issues.
Navaratnam, a former Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance, said in an interview with FMT that Budget 2015′s emphasis on Malay and Bumiputera policies, in particular, was no longer necessary now that Malaysia was moving towards developed nation status.
“The budget is racially based,” he said. “Why do we need race-based policies anymore? We’re passed that stage.
“That is the weakness of the budget. We shouldn’t keep thinking along racial lines anymore. It slows down progress.”
Navaratnam sees “too many political gimmicks” in the budget. “Politics shouldn’t have any role to play in the economy,” he said.
Explaining his opposition to race-based policies, he said the trouble was that they were too often and too widely abused, leading to wastage.
“The worst Bumiputera contractors are getting the job, which is why despite our spending on infrastructure, there’s very little return,” he added.
“These policies limit opportunities,” he said and he blamed them for capital flight out of the country.
Navaratnam also said he was discouraged that the budget took the easy way of ensuring the government’s popularity, handing out grants to the people without addressing structural issues for the longer term.
