Friday 28 September 2012

Budget 2013: Live updates


KUALA LUMPUR: The following are the key points of Budget 2013 presented by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament on Friday.
*Najib said that the budget is a gesture of appreciation to Malaysians and was based on the background of the economy being poised to expand 4.5%-5% for 2012, spurred by private investment.
*The allocation for next year's budget is 251.6bil with the fiscal deficit at 4% compared with 2012's deficit of 4.5%.
*Govt will reintroduce foreign company acquisition incentives & tax incentives for local service providers
* RM500mil will be allocated for the River of Life project to rejuvenate Klang River
*Halal Industry Fund will provide RM200mil to fund working capital for SMEs that produce halal products
*Govt to set up group insurance coverage scheme for hawkers and small business owners
*Tax incentives for private entrepreneurs in the oil & gas industry including 100% income tax waiver for 10 years, exemption of withholding tax & stamp duty
*Tax incentive for the Global Incentive for Trading (GIFT) programme to make Malaysia an international commodity trading hub in line with global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Approved commodity trading will include commodities such as in agriculture, refined raw materials, base minerals & chemicals. GIFT will see a 100% income tax waiver for the first 3 years of operation
*Tun Razak Exchange expected to attract 250 international companies and offer 40,000 jobs; 10-year tax exemption for companies with TRX status
*RM230mil in incentives for fishermen, RM2.4bil in subsidies and incentives for paddy sectors
*Security Commission will provide the framework for the issuance of AgroSukuk for companies involved in agriculture, For AgroSukuk, the government has allocated a double tax deduction for a 4-year period from 2012-2015
*RM350mil for all entreprenuers, including RM50mil for Indian entrepreneurs
*RM38.7bil to improve quality of education in the country with an additional RM500mil to training teachers in the core subjects of English, Bahasa Malaysia, Science and Maths.
*Tax-free incentives and grants for setting up of new nurseries and kindergartens. RM1.2bil allocation for pre-school development
*Total of 1bil to upgrade schools - RM400mil for national schools, and RM100mil each for Chinese, Tamil, mission, religious, boarding schools and MRSM
*RM1bil fund to be set up to help bumiputra SMEs to increase their equity share in the economy
*Minimum pension to be increased to RM820 for those who had served govt for at least 25 years. More than 50,000 pensioners afftected.
*Government will establish the Graduate Employability Taskforce with an allocation of RM200mil to strengthen employability of unemployed graduates under Graduate Employability Blueprint by end-2012
*The Government will allocate RM440 million to the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), to provide loans for trainees to undergo skills training
*SOCSO will allocate RM200mil to enable its 1.4 million members to undertake free health screening in Government hospitals or SOCSO's panel clinics to detect non-communicable diseases.
To further boost the production and utilisation of green technology-based products, the fund for GTFS will be increased by RM2 billion and the application period extended for another three years ending 31 December 2015.
Source: The Star

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