In a statement today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said despite “various legacy challenges”, the federal government remained steadfast in its goal to lower fiscal deficit to 2.8% of the GDP this year.
“We will proceed with our fiscal consolidation agenda gradually in a more sustainable manner without hurting economic growth and the well-being of the rakyat.
“To that end, the federal government is establishing two new committees. They are the Public Finance Committee (PFC) and the Tax Reform Committee (TRC).”
The PFC, to be chaired by Lim, will outline the government’s medium-term fiscal plans. It will include Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali and Bank Negara governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus.
“It will be the platform to balance out the needs for fiscal consolidation and the need for the government to spend in order to raise the living standards of the rakyat while contributing to future economic growth,” Lim said.
The TRC meanwhile will assess the taxation system with the intention of making it more efficient, “more neutral and more progressive”.
Lim said it would also study measures to minimise tax leakage and evasion. He did not say who would chair this committee.
The finance ministry has also set up a dedicated website where the public can contribute ideas and suggestions for Budget 2019.
Lim said members of the public could make suggestions via belanjawan2019.treasury.gov.my from Aug 28 to Sept 30. They can also share their views on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by using the hashtag #belanjawan2019.
Following the 2019 budget consultation held on July 12, the ministry is now meeting more stakeholders for input for Budget 2019 which will be tabled in Parliament on Nov 2.
Lim said a series of focus group meetings had been scheduled from August to September to gather views on specific issues, including the domestic workforce, quality of education, sustainable development and living costs among the urban poor.
Lim chaired the first focus group meeting yesterday to discuss ways to improve public finance.