PETALING JAYA: Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz has started delivering his Budget 2022 speech in Parliament here on Friday (Oct 29).

       The Finance Minister is expected to deliver a Budget in line with the Malaysian Family concept, which will concentrate on the country's recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

       On Wednesday (Oct 27) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Budget 2022 was from the people, by the people, for the people and would be of high impact for all layers of society and businesses.

       Ismail Sabri said Budget 2022 would also generate more jobs to tackle unemployment and enable the recovery process to return the country and its economy to the pre-Covid-19 pandemic with new norms in place.

       He added that Budget 2022 was drawn up carefully and comprehensively, taking into account the views of all quarters, including Opposition parties.

       Here are the highlights of the Budget 2022 speech as they are delivered:

       ------------------------------------------

       Budget 2022 allocation

       Budget 2022 has a total allocation of RM332.1bil, the largest-ever for the country. This surpasses Budget 2021 allocation of of RM322.54bil.

       Tengku Zafrul said this involves RM233.5bil in administrative expenses, RM75.6bil in development, RM23bil for the Covid-19 fund and RM2bil for unexpected expenses.

       Family focus

       The Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia outlined in Budget 2022 will benefit over 9.6 million recipients with an allocation of RM8.2bil.

       Households with three children or more with household income less than RM2,500 will receive RM2,000 in aid. An extra RM500 will be given to for single thers/fathers with dependents and monthly income of up to RM5,000. This means single mothers/fathers with three children and above are entitled to a maximum RM2,500 in aid.

       An additional allocation of RM300 will be given to senior citizens.

       Overall, RM2.4bil in welfare aid is allocated to benefit over 440,000 households.

       Education first

       Education gets the biggest slice of the pie in Budget 2022 with RM52.6bil for the Education Ministry and RM14.5bil for the Higher Education Ministry.

       Tengku Zafrul said this includes RM450mil in aid to be provided to three million students.

       Health matters

       Health Ministry gets an allocation of 32.4bil, the second-largest after the Education Ministry.

       From the allocation, RM2bil will be channeled to purchase of vaccines and RM2bil for additional Covid-19 expenses.

       He added that the government would be purchasing another 88 million doses of vaccines, which will be the third dose for children between the ages of 12 and 17.

       Just for jobs

       Allocation of RM4.8bil to create 600,000 job opportunities under the JaminKerja initative.

       With a target of 300,000 hires, the initiative will offer incentives to employers such as 20% of the first six months' pay, and 30% of the following six months pay for hired employees making above RM1,500.

       Among others, RM1.1bil has been allocated for training and upskilling programmes for 220,000 trainees.

       Boosting healthy lifestyles

       There will be an excise duty imposed on nicotine-based gel or liquid products for vaping and electronic cigarettes, says the Finance Minister.

       "Towards a healthy lifestyle the government plans to broaden the scope of excise duty to include premix sugary drinks made from chocolate, malt, coffee and tea," said Tengku Zafrul.

       Women matters

       The goverment will make it mandatory for all publicly-listed companies to appoint at least one woman to its board of directors.

       Tengku Zafrul said RM5mil would also be allocated for the Women Leadership Foundation to encourage female participation in the economic sector.

       Free self-hygiene kits will be given to young women in the B40 category monthly, which will benefit some 130,000 youths nationwide.

       Tengku Zafrul added that RM11mil would be allocated for free mammogram and cervix examinations.

       New villages

       A total of RM200mil has been allocated for the Chinese community, among them for the purpose of upgrading Chinese new villages, as well as financing schemes for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

       RM145mil has been set aside for the Indian community, among them for the implementation of programmes to strengthen the community's social economy through Tekun Nasional, the national Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund, under the Indian Entrepreneurs Development Scheme.

       More to come