Budget 2021 will not be politicised - Tengku Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR: Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz today expressed his confidence that Budget 2021 will not be politicised and will have the full support of the Members of Parliament for the common good.

The minister also voiced hope that economic recovery would be achieved by next year.

According to Tengku Zafrul, Budget 2021 will build on the momentum of economic recovery that has started since May as well as through all the economic stimulus packages, namely the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN), Additional Prihatin SME Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN SME+), National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) and Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package (KITA PRIHATIN).

He cited the reminder by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to stop all politicking which has disrupted the country's stability.

Tengku Zafrul further noted that the King had also stressed that Budget 2021, to be tabled in Parliament, was very important for the people in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and reviving the country's economy.

"To this end, I would like to share that my colleagues at the Ministry of Finance and I are committed and dedicated in our efforts to provide a comprehensive Budget 2021 that focuses on the people's wellbeing, business continuity and economic resilience," he said when presenting the 27th Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (LAKSANA) report through his Facebook account today.

"Let us work together for the sake of our beloved Malaysia," the minister added.

Meanwhile, in the report, he said under the initiative to support the agriculture and food sector through financing and revolving capital, a total of RM30.3 million has been channelled as of Oct 16, benefitting 3,759 entrepreneurs.

As for the Micro and SMEs E-commerce Campaign, spearheaded by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and launched at the end of June to help local businesses, he said 20 e-commerce platforms had supported this effort as strategic implementation partners.

"As of October, over 45,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have registered through the strategic partners' e-commerce platforms and over 115,000 MSMEs have benefited in various ways.

"Sales that have been successfully generated through this campaign total more than RM332 million," he noted.

On the "Shop Malaysia Online" campaign (PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online) -- a collaboration between the Government and 22 e-commerce platform providers to jointly fund eVoucher discounts to encourage the online purchase of local products -- he said since its launch on Aug 1, it had generated sales worth RM896 million and benefited 7.8 million users as well as more than 213,000 local sellers.

"Within a short time, more than RM1.2 billion of online sales have been successfully generated from these two initiatives," he added.

-- BERNAMA