Govt has sufficient funds for Budget 2017 - Zahid

The government has sufficient funds for disbursement to the target groups in Budget 2017, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He described as baseless, the assertion by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that Budget 2017 could not be implemented because the government did not have the means.

"In the budget preparation, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is also Finance Minister engaged with various quarters to obtain feedback on sectors and target groups.

"For such purpose, several consultations were held not only with the Finance Ministry and National Treasury but also the private sector, banking and research institutions and so on.

In every budget, there are elements to be considered such as government revenue and estimated expenditure," he told reporters after the passing out parade for Immigration assistant superintendents in Series 2 Year 2016, at the Malaysian Immigration Academy here, today.

Also present at the function were Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali.

He stressed that although the budget tabled yesterday was a deficit budget, the government had the fiscal means to cater to the target groups.

"The deficit is only in a small percentage, which people can understand but when one is on the other side, it's as if one's eyes are too blurred to accept the reality.

"The preparation of the budget is based on the country's fiscal condition. It is based on the revenue that the country gets from numerous sources such as corporate tax, income tax, goods and services tax and excise tax," Zahid said. -- BERNAMA