KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): Leaders from the banking fraternity are encouraged that the government has again prioritised the rakyat’s well-being as a key focus pillar when formulating Budget 2022.

The new national budget, themed 'Keluarga Malaysia, Makmur Sejahtera', is seen as one that is committed to driving inclusive and sustainable growth to strengthen the country's economic resilience following the Covid-19 pandemic, while rebuilding market confidence.

Below are excerpts of their comments on the latest national budget:

CEO of OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd

The National Budget 2022 is aimed at rebuilding Malaysia steadily as we recover from the pandemic. It rightly focuses on helping individuals and businesses regain their footing by continuing to provide support even as the economy improves. This remains necessary as they still need considerable help.

The government’s initiatives on addressing the climate change issues and other sustainability-related measures are timely and I am glad that the banking sector remains in a position to play its key role in the rebuilding efforts. There is every reason to be optimistic about the future as the building blocks are in place.

Founder, chairman emeritus, director and adviser of Public Bank Bhd

We applaud Budget 2022, which appropriately balances the mix between reducing income inequality, expanding on targeted assistance to households and businesses while also investing in the nation’s healthcare and basic infrastructures. Amongst specific measures include allocating RM8.2 billion to a newly-introduced Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia programme, which will benefit 9.6 million recipients, and RM4.8 billion set aside to create 600,000 employment opportunities.

Just as importantly, Budget 2022 also focuses on the future with spending allocated towards enhancing digital and technological infrastructures, while facilitating the transition of industrial sectors towards greater automation. It is important that no one is left behind in the eventual unfolding of this new age of development. To this end, the government’s allocation of RM30 million to provide internet access to 40 low-cost housing schemes and RM700 million towards ensuring digital connectivity in 47 industrial areas and 630 schools in rural areas is very much welcomed.

Group CEO of CIMB Group

Through Budget 2022, the government has reiterated its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and doubled down on its commitment towards driving the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, through investments that will stimulate economic activities and growth whilst minimising harm to the environment and our communities. This commitment includes ensuring alignment with green budgeting to ensure development projects and programmes that support climate resilience, and the provision of financing to support the low carbon transition. Additionally, we welcome the government’s plans for sustainability sukuk issuance amounting up to RM10 billion in the year ahead to be channelled to qualified social and climate-friendly projects.

As the country continues to grapple with the impact of the prolonged pandemic, we are pleased to see the focus on initiatives that will benefit the B40 group and businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the backbone of our economy. This includes, for example, access to financing for MSMEs and the informal sector.

The government’s initiatives to promote inclusivity by targeting to reduce the income gap, as well as the development gap between states, will lead to a greater income, wealth and social equity. Along with the focus on upskilling and reskilling of workers in Malaysia to enhance productivity, these initiatives may also promote a more broad-based and sustainable recovery in economic growth. The focus on areas such as infrastructure and digitalisation will also close the digital divide and promote digital inclusion amongst Malaysians.

MD and CEO of Standard Chartered Malaysia

As the first financial institution in Malaysia to be globally certified for workplace gender equality, Standard Chartered is heartened by the women empowerment agenda in the Budget — from subsidies specific to women health and the RM2 billion JaminKerja wage incentives to help women returning to work, to a compulsory one-woman minimum requirement in the board composition for public listed companies. We also welcome the government’s allocation of RM230 million for women entrepreneurs through the Dananita Programme under TEKUN to lift and drive greater economic participation of women entrepreneurs. Raising productivity and enhancing human capital amongst women are key to putting our economy back on track.

The provision of over RM46 billion worth of guarantees by Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP) to-date has helped SMEs — one of the hardest-hit segments — tide over the challenges of the pandemic. As such, we laud the move to enhance SJPP by providing guarantees for rescheduled and restructured loans at a higher limit of RM10 billion to enable businesses to secure new financing, especially with digitalisation and automation proving to be crucial elements in business resilience.

We welcome the allocation of RM2 billion to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) which will no doubt help to continue attracting quality investments to add value to the country’s economy. As facilitators of cross-border trade, we also welcome the provision of RM25 million provided to Halal Development Corporation (HDC) for halal advisory, advocacy, digitalisation and development to support local halal businesses thrive within the global halal ecosystem.

President and CEO of Maybank Group

Budget 2022 maintains an expansionary fiscal policy to support and sustain the socioeconomic healing from the pandemic as we adopt and adapt to living with Covid-19. It is important for this budget to create opportunities for individuals and businesses to transition into a recovering economy ripe for growth and focused on productivity measures.

From the banking sector perspective, we welcome the expansion in housing credit guarantee and micro credit schemes to workers and businesses in the informal sectors, specifically aimed at facilitating access to financing and enabling financial inclusion.

The banking industry, together with Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK), has also developed its own targeted programme to continue supporting the most vulnerable segment of individual customers through a comprehensive extended financial assistance scheme. This scheme, known as Financial Management and Resilience Programme (Programme Pengurusan & Ketahanan, URUS), will provide holistic financial management solutions for B50 customers.

Group MD of RHB Banking Group

It is encouraging to see the various measures addressing the plight of the B40 segment as well as continued support for key economic sectors.

There continues to be much focus on accelerating the economy with higher allocations for small scale projects, as well as supporting the growth of SMEs. The focus on consumer discretionary spending, coupled with the higher allocation for development as well as capital expenditure by the non-financial public corporations (NFPCs), would be positive for the infrastructure-related segment of the economy. This would result in large multiplier effects on economic activity. As a financial services group, RHB will play our part to support economic recovery and development, in particular the growth of SMEs.

We also applaud the drive towards sustainable practices, through increased diversity in the workplace and empowering women in building a more robust economy post Covid-19, as well as the country’s aspiration towards becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

See more Budget 2022 highlights here.