Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said that Tengku Zafrul did not identify where the government’s revenue would be derived from after tabling a RM372.3 billion budget.

Putrajaya, he said, could not solely rely on Petronas.

“Where are the tax (hikes) for the T20? What is the difference between Tengku Zafrul and Truss?” the Bersatu Youth chief said at a forum that was streamed online tonight.

Truss resigned on Oct 20 after her economic programme sent the pound and government bond markets tumbling and divided her Conservative Party.

Under the 2023 budget, the personal income tax rate for those earning RM50,000 to RM100,000 was cut by 2%. Tengku Zafrul had previously said that these cuts would allow tax savings of up to RM1,000 for the middle-income group.

However, those earning RM100,001 and above did not get any tax breaks under the budget that was tabled on Oct 7, three days before Parliament was dissolved.

“I don’t think this budget is sincere,” Wan Fayhsal said.

He added that the committee established to wage “jihad” on inflation had failed as the minister who chaired the task force, Annuar Musa, was heading an unrelated ministry.

Annuar is the communications and multimedia minister.

“All of this was done to score political mileage where a minister from Barisan Nasional would get the credit,” he said, adding that appointing an unqualified person to the post would do more harm than good.