At a press conference here, Rafizi said this was one of the most important tasks at hand for the new government, adding that he will be working closely with the finance ministry on this.

“We will be very occupied with that over the next month or two,” he said.

Asked if the budget will be smaller or larger than the one announced by the previous government, he said this has to be answered by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister.

“What we do here (at the economic affairs ministry) is focus on long-term planning,” he said.

In October, then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz tabled the RM372.3 billion budget for 2023.

The Center for Market Education had said there were too many ad hoc goodies in the budget, questioning how Putrajaya planned to deal with its high operational expenditures.

When asked whether the government will reintroduce the goods and services tax (GST), Rafizi said it was not for him to say as it was another decision that was up to the finance minister.

“Our role here is to provide scenarios, planning, and projections for the finance ministry.

“The decision on how to strengthen our value in terms of revenue has to be made collectively as a government,” he said.

Rafizi said the economic affairs ministry will ensure that the government’s revenue stream will be “more robust”.

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