As we know, last Friday Malaysia Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak has tabled Budget 2017.
Is it good for us or not? Let’s see some of the point that I could relate to us :-

Civil Servants
– One-off RM500 payments for Civil Servants to be paid out in January 2017. RM250 for retirees.

– Motorcycle loan Scheme increased from RM5,000 to RM10,000.

– RM5,000 Computer Loan Scheme now includes smartphones.

– Child quarantine leave: Five days max.

– Study leave with full pay.

– Housing loan scheme: Increased from RM120,000 and RM600,000 to RM200,000 and RM750,000 respectively.

– 30,000 Perumahan Penjawat Awam 1Malaysia to be sold to civil servants between RM90,000 and RM300,000, at 20% below market price.

– 2,600 doctors who were unable to receive housemanship placements will be hired on contract.

// It is good for civil servants to get RM500/RM250 in January 2017 as it is a new year and some of civil servants need additional money for their school children expenses.
For me, motorcycle loan to increased is good but as high RM10,000 is not reliable. Mostly, those want to borrow adequate with ‘kapcai’ motorcycle which is around RM3,500-RM5,000.
Giving the more untill RM10,000 only bring them another loan. FOr the computer loan scheme which includes smartphones is good but I think it is better to have maximum RM2,000 for smartphone.

Housing
New MyBeautiful New Home scheme for bottom 40 percent income category (B40). 5,000 units to be build. Price: RM40,000 ro RM50,000 per unit. Total allocation: RM200 million.

– Housing and Local Government Ministry to build 9,850 units of People’s Housing Programme (PPR) houses.

– Government-owned land to be used for 30,000 low-cost homes. Price: RM150,000 to RM300,000.

– Approximately 10,000 homes to be built in urban areas for rental to youths with permanent jobs, including young graduates entering job market.

– 5,000 units of People’s Friendly Home. RM20,000 to be subsidised by government. RM200 million to be allocated.

– 1Malaysia People’s Housing Project (PR1MA) is well-received. 12,000 units valued at RM3.3 billion has been booked.

– New ‘step-up’ end-financing scheme for PR1MA to make it easier for buyers to obtain financing.

– Stamp duty exemption for first time home buyers increased to 100%. Limited to houses with value of up to RM300,000 between Jan 1, 2017 and Dec 31, 2018.

// For housing, It is good to build more house but government need to thinks whether the price is still high or not. Most of people in low middle income need house below RM150,000.
A research need to be done to build that kind of house.

BR1M:

– Households in e-Kasih database with monthly income below RM3,000: BR1M payments now RM1,200, up from RM1,050.

– Households earning RM3,000-RM4,000: BR1M payments increased from RM800 to RM900.

– Single individuals earning below RM2,000: BR1M payments now RM450, up from RM400

// Honestly I don’t like to comment on BR1M as I’m disagree about it.

Health:

– Building of new hospitals and clinics or upgrading of existing ones in Perlis, Kuching, Mukah, Jempol, Muar and Johor Bahru.

– RM536 million to be spent on upgrading hospital facilities nationwide.

– RM4.5 billion allocation for operation of 340 1Malaysia Clinics, 11 1Malaysia mobile clinics, 959 health clinics and 1,800 existing rural clinics.

– RM4 billion to be spent on drugs, consumables, vaccines and reagents for all government hospitals and health facilities.

– One-off grants of RM200,000 for health providers to purchase haemodialysis equipment to establish more dialysis centres.

// Health is important as it could effect our money highly. Nowaday, health expenses is very high and government need to help people. Need more 1Malaysia clinics and improve the service of hospital.
Some of district hospital need to upgrade and need more expertise doctor.

Transport:

– RM60 million allocation for scheme to provide RM5,000 grant for taxi drivers to purchase new vehicles.

– Individual taxi permits to be given.

– SOCSO coverage for individual taxi drivers for taxi drivers with monthly income of up to RM3,000.

– Government will encourage ride-sharing drivers such as Uber to help “bottom 40%” group generate additional income.

– Rebate of RM4,000 for Proton Iriz purchase. Limited to non-vehicle owners.

// Public transport need to be upgrade and the fare need to be revise. Many people complaint as the fee has increased.

Broadband:

– Broadband speed to be doubled from Jan 2017. E.g. Subscriber of 5 megabyte per second service will have double the download speed at still pay the same price.

– RM1 billion allocation to improve coverage and quality of broadband nationwide.

Education:

– Special Fund for Improvement and Maintenance of Schools:

RM250 million for national schools;
RM50 million for national-type Chinese schools;
RM50 million for national-type Tamil schools;
RM50 million for sekolah agama;
RM50 million for fully residential schools;
RM50 million for government-aided religious schools;
RM50 million for registered sekolah pondok; and
RM50 million for MARA junior science colleges.
– RM250 1Malaysia student book voucher scheme to be replaced with student debit card of same value. Can be used to purchase books, computer accessories and internet access.

– Scholarship allocation (e.g. JPA, Mara etc): RM4.3 billion

– Discounts on PTPTN loan repayments:

15% discount on outstanding debt for full settlement;
10% discount for payment of at least 50% of the outstanding debt made in a single payment; and
10% discount for repayment through salary deduction or direct debit in accordance with the repayment schedule.
Valid offer from Oct 22, 2016 to December 2017.
Women:

– RM2 billion allocation for programmes involving women, including I-KIT, I-KeuNita and Women Career Comeback schemes.

– RM30 million allocation for free mammogram and HPV vaccination scheme.

Childcare:

– RM1,000 tax relief for breastfeeding equipment, claimable biennially from assessment year 2017.

– RM1,000 tax relief for taxpayers who enroll their children aged 6 and below into registered nurseries and pre-school from assessment year 2017.

– RM85 million allocation for Permata early education programme for gifted children.

Insolvency:

– Government will amend Bankruptcy Act 1967 early next year on matters concerning those declared bankrupt especially ‘social guarantors’ (e.g. scholarship guarantor) and among others certified with chronic disease and the elderly. Details to be announced.

Read more: MalaysiaKini

So what’s your opinion on Budget 2017? Do you think it is good or not? Just share your opinion.

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