KUALA LUMPUR:A special focus on empowering the country's healthcare and tourism sectors will be included in the government's agenda in Budget 2021, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said the budget, which was deemed challenging, would also focus on ensuring the country's basic needs such as food sufficiency.

"To address health issues, of course, matters related to the Ministry of Health (MoH), on frontliners, for example, should be given attention.

"One of the reasons why our economy has not been able to recover is because the country's borders are still closed. This affects the national economy, the tourism sector, for example, needs to be revived,” he said in an interview on Awani’s Agenda programme last night.

Mustapa said although the country was still struggling against the COVID-19 pandemic, the government still needed to spend to ensure the economy remained stable.

He said the government had received recommendations to increase spending next year, among others, in infrastructure projects, to boost economic growth after the severe downturn due to COVID-19.

Although the economic contraction this year had caused the government's revenue to plummet significantly, the government remains committed to ease the burden of the people, he added.

The 2021 Budget will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday.

-- BERNAMA