Govt to look into job and income recovery in Budget 2022 - Tengku Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will specifically look into job and income recovery in Budget 2022, as well as strengthening social protection through focused assistance, in an effort to build socio-economic resilience.

At a virtual session of Budget 2022 consultation, Minister of Finance Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz also highlighted the government's focus on structural reforms, including closer collaboration with civil society organisations (CSOs) as the government's delivery partner to achieve goals outlined in the National Recovery Plan and Budget 2022.

This is also in line with the government's longer term aspirations outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan and the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030.

"The government remains committed to helping those in need, particularly the rakyat who are still affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

"We would be keen to hear how we can reach out to segments of society in ways that are more effective, innovative and more customised to the specific needs of communities," he said in a statement.

The dialogue session, organised by Yayasan Hasanah, the foundation of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, was held between the Minister of Finance and representatives of CSOs and social enterprises to outline key budget recommendations to strengthen the delivery of social assistance programmes.

CSOs have been identified as key development partners of the government to enable faster and more sustainable socio-economic recovery.

In the statement, Yayasan Hasanah noted that the past 18 months have demonstrated the critical role of grass root organisations, including social enterprises, NGOs and CSOs, who have come together and complemented government efforts to respond in a timely and expedient manner.

During the session, Yayasan Hasanah managing director Datuk Shahira Ahmed Bazari made three recommendations to further support and catalyse social impact, including longer term organisational development support to build regional and global Malaysian CSOs who can deliver quality and impactful social programmes at scale.

Secondly, she said there must be an urgent need for a more dynamic, up-to-date and customised database system to minimise gaps in welfare programmes, and thirdly, structural reforms through tax support and incentives for social enterprises and civil society partners as well as donors.

-- BERNAMA