The Minister of Finance Tengku Zafrul bin Tengku Abdul Aziz announced the plans and initiatives under Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat on 29 October 2021.
If you missed the live tabling of Budget 2022 last Friday, here’s some key points you need to know:
1. Budget 2022 is the largest budget ever set so far
According to Tengku Zafrul, the total budget for Budget 2022 is RM332.1 billion, which is the highest compared to previous years.
2. Bantuan Kewangan Malaysia (BKM), upgraded version of BPR
In comparison to Budget 2021 or Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR), BKM offers a significantly higher incentive and assistance. BKM incentives consist of:
- Households with three children and above, with a total household income of less than RM2,500, will receive RM2,000.
- Households with up to two children, with a total household income of less than RM2,500, will receive RM1,500.
- Households with no children, with a total household income of less than RM2,500, will receive RM1,000.
- Elderly B40 community members will receive RM300 a month.
- Single parents that earn RM5,000 and below will receive RM500.
3. Taxes are introduced for better healthy living for Malaysians
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New and improved taxes are introduced in line with encouraging healthy living.
- Sugar tax expansion for any malt, cocoa, and chocolate beverages.
- Excise duty is applied to all electronic cigarette products.
4. Mental health is finally taken seriously
Considering how the pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health, the government has decided to allocate RM70 million to mental health treatment in Malaysia.
The allocated budget for mental health treatment will be directed towards these incentives:
- Strengthening counselling
- Psychosocial programmes
- Advocacy efforts
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
6. Budget allocated for the education sector is the HIGHEST
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Students have been affected a lot throughout this whole pandemic. The government has decided to allocate RM53.6 billion to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and RM14.5 billion to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in Budget 2022.
These are the following incentives provided for a better education experience for students:
- RM150 for 3 million students as Early Student Aid
- RM1 billion allocated for school maintenance and repairs to schools, tahfiz, agama rakyat, and registered sekolah pondok
- RM120 million in providing a conducive school learning environment for SJKC and SKJI
- RM50 million in empowering the educational agenda for special needs school
- RM400 million for milk provision as daily nutrition for students with lower-income family
- RM450 million to provide tablet for B40 students
- RM5 Monthly KTM Pass For Students To Stay, Unlimited Bus and Rail Pass At RM50
7. PTPTN discounts
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PTPTN borrowers can be at ease with the new discounts introduced during Budget 2022.
The discounts include:
- 15% discount if they made a full settlement on their outstanding loans
- 12% discount for payments if at least 50% of the outstanding balance in a single payment
- 10% discount if repayments were made through salary deduction or direct debit as per schedule
8. Budget 2022 towards women empowerment
During the tabling of the Budget 2022, women in the Dewan Rakyat were excited to hear the budget allocated towards Malaysian women’s betterment!
These are the incentives introduced towards women empowerment:
- Free sanity pads are provided every month to 130,000 female teenagers in the B40 group.
- RM30 million has been allocated to provide better childcare facilities to help ease the burden of working mothers.
- RM230 million was allocated towards capacity buildings to help women entrepreneurs affected during the pandemic.
- By September 2022, it will be compulsory to have at least 1 female board director for all major companies.
- RM13 million is allocated to strengthen the Sexual, Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (D11) of the Royal Malaysia Police.
9. E-sports is on the roll
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With the growth of E-sports in Malaysia, the government decided to allocate an amount of RM20 million which includes RM5 million to build a facility for drone sports.
Not only that! Tengku Zafrul also announced that e-sports earnings will be tax exempted.
To watch the full tabling of Budget 2022, you can check out Astro Awani’s Facebook here.
Let us know what you think of Budget 2022 in the comments down below.
Also read: Budget 2022: Chinese, Indian & Orang Asli Communities To Receive Financial Assistance
