Various forms of subsidies and incentives amounting to RM2.6bil will be channeled to padi farmers and fishermen, said Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling Budget 2024 at the Dewan Rakyat on Friday (Oct 13).
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Prime Minister Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim tabled the Malaysia Madani 2024 budget in the Dewan
00:08 Rakyat on Friday. He started by saying that the government's revenues are expected to
00:13 increase from RM303.2 billion this year to RM307.6 billion next year. He added that the
00:22 fiscal deficit is expected to be reduced to 4.3 per cent next year. With a total allocation
00:28 of RM393.8 billion for the budget, Anwar said the government will continue to reform its
00:34 subsidy system to one that is targeted and spent on areas that need it the most. He said
00:40 various forms of subsidies and incentives amounting to RM2.6 billion will be channelled
00:46 to padi farmers and fishermen.
00:48 "The government will continue to make great efforts to guarantee the continuity of the
00:51 agri-food industry. The subsidy scheme for padi farmers that we raised from RM360 to
01:00 RM500 per metric tonne has been of great benefit to the farmers. But there is still a lot of
01:08 controversy because the investors have lowered the minimum price to RM1,200 per metric tonne.
01:15 Whereas before this, the price of padi farmers was much higher. I agree to increase the
01:22 price of padi farmers to RM1,300 per metric tonne. The subsidy for padi farmers from Bukit
01:28 or Padihuma has been increased to RM50 million. To benefit the fishermen, the government
01:35 will maintain the diesel subsidy at the lowest price, which is RM1.65 per litre to fishermen
01:43 class 1 with a capacity of RM840 million per year. Fishermen are also given a lifetime
01:53 allowance of RM300 per month and a fishermen's catch incentive of RM1,000 per month."
02:01 Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the government had embarked on a pilot project
02:05 for five padi planting seasons to over two years in places like Botakiri in Pera, Kangga
02:11 in Perlis and Kota Sarang, 64 Semud in Kedah. He said RM400 million will be used for the
02:18 implementation of the food security reinforcement programme and a special focus will be given
02:23 to increase the production of local food crops that still depend on foreign imports. Anwar
02:29 also said the government will double allocations for the National Scam Response Centre from
02:34 RM10 million to RM20 million next year.
02:37 "The issue of scams has been raised by Mr Ahmad. The National Scam Response Centre has
02:44 handled more than 49,000 calls and has managed to freeze up to RM60 million in transactions.
02:52 The government will increase the allocation of NSRC to RM20 million, which is now RM10
02:58 million, to counteract the scams. The civil expenditure will become RM10 million in addition.
03:05 Under the Malaysian Foreign Securities Fund, it is our people's fate to be victims of
03:12 a little bit of embezzlement and other cases of foreign corruption."
03:18 He added that Bank Negara Malaysia is working with the financial sector to develop a national
03:23 fraud portal to expedite the detection, freezing and repatriation of funds involved in fraudulent
03:29 activities.
03:30 For live UN video visit www.un.org/webcast
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