‘Budget 2014 to benefit all, including civil servants’

PUTRAJAYA: The Budget 2014 to be tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Oct 25 will be geared towards economic growth.

“It will be a pro-growth budget, so as citizens, civil servants will also benefit from it,” Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said yesterday.

Queried as to whether there would be any announcement on salary, benefits and allowances for civil servants in the budget, he responded that the government had taken care of those matters through two pay rises this year, as well as capping automatic increments at minimum three percent for those who have reached maximum salary.

Apart from that the Public Service Department was also reviewing the 86 allowances under various civil service schemes as announced at the 13th Civil Service Dialogue in March, he added.

“The results of the review will be announced in December as scheduled,” he said at a press conference after opening Innovation Day 2013 at the Prime Minister’s Department here.

Ali said the Innovation Day was aimed at strengthening the culture of innovation in the government’s service delivery system. — Bernama

(Source: http://www.theborneopost.com)

Esscom to be strengthened: PM

Kuala Lumpur: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) will be strengthened for the safety of Malaysians, especially in Sabah, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak posted on his Twitter account Friday.

The Prime Minister was commenting on a news report which stated that Esscom would be receiving new assets soon.

On Thursday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said part of the new assets, particularly for patrols, had been already purchased and were pending delivery.

Meanwhile, in an earlier Tweet, Najib reminded the public that this Sunday was the closing date for the contribution of ideas for the 2014 Budget.

The Budget is scheduled to be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 25.

(Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my)

#Bajet2014: Your Idea is Valuable

I will soon be tabling the next National Budget in my capacity of Finance Minister. As a government elected by the people, I believe everyone deserves a say on how we as a nation will progress next year.

It gives me great pride to see that the rakyat share our vision of seeing Malaysia succeed on the world stage. 

Their commitment shows from the encouraging response we always receive before we table each year’s budget. This was most evident last year when we sorted through over 2,500 comments and suggestions taken from various social media platforms, the best of which were successfully incorporated into the 2013 Budget.

With the current state of the world economy, it has become even more important for us to come up with an ambitious yet sensible budget that sets the right pace and direction of our country’s growth. This is a daunting task but I fully believe that we can achieve the best results by working together as a nation.

On the 26th of August, we will be providing a platform for the rakyat to come together and share their views on the 2014 Budget. The discussions will focus on several topics including cost of living, housing and urban living, healthcare, public safety and other issues close to the hearts of the people. We will continue collecting your input until the 8th of September, after which they will be sent to the Finance Ministry for consideration.

To achieve our goal of becoming a high-income nation, we need everyone to play their part. I am looking forward to seeing your ideas

(Source: http://www.1malaysia.com.my)

Najib seeks views on Budget 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wants the people to share their view and ideas for Budget 2014 which is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 25.

Najib extended the invite through his blog www.1malaysia.com.my and Twitter site and said he would soon be tabling the next National Budget in his capacity as Finance Minister and that as a government elected by the rakyat (people), he believed everyone deserved a say on how the nation progressed next year.

"It gives me great pride to see that the rakyat share our vision of seeing Malaysia succeed on the world stage. Their commitment shows from the encouraging response we always receive before we table each year's budget.

"This was most evident last year when we sorted through over 2,500 comments and suggestions taken from various social media platforms, the best of which were successfully incorporated into the 2013 Budget," he said in his latest blog entry today titled "Bajet2014: Your Idea is Valuable".

"On the 26th of August, we will be providing a platform for the rakyat to come together and share their views on the 2014 Budget. The discussions will focus on several topics including cost of living, housing and urban living, healthcare, public safety and other issues close to the hearts of the people.

"We will continue collecting your input until the 8th of September, after which they will be sent to the Finance Ministry for consideration," he said.

Najib added that to achieve Malaysia's goal of becoming a high-income nation, everyone needed to play their part and that he was looking forward to seeing the rakyat's ideas.

 (Source: http://www.mysinchew.com  See the blog on Budget 2014 here. )

Concerns over health of public finances to be addressed in Budget 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: A detailed strategy on how to address growing concerns over the health of Malaysia’s public finances will be addressed in Budget 2014.

“We have already put in place a fiscal committee, which is looking into some of the challenges that we face, and all these will be addressed shortly, especially in the forthcoming Budget,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Budget 2014 is expected to be tabled on Oct 25.

Najib, also the Finance Minister, stressed that the Government remained committed to strengthening the country’s macroeconomic and fiscal position.

“At the moment, we are looking at various policy options ... we do understand there is a need for us to strengthen our fiscal and macro position,” Najib said in response to Fitch Ratings’ concern over the ability of the Malaysian Government to rein in its debt and spending.

Fitch had on Tuesday downgraded Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating outlook from “stable” to “negative”, citing that the prospects for budgetary reform and fiscal consolidation to address weaknesses in public finances had worsened after the 13th general election in May.

Najib: Budget 2014 to strengthen fiscal, macro position

Putrajaya will unveil policies in Budget 2014 to strengthen the country's fiscal and macro position, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) said today, two days after Fitch Ratings downgraded Malaysia's creditl outlook to negative.

Najib said the government shared the rating agency's concern on fiscal reforms.

"We are looking at various policy options and the actual details will be unveiled shortly in the forthcoming budget," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times news portal.

Najib, who is also finance minister, said the revision by Fitch Ratings was only with regard to outlook but the rating agency has "reaffirmed our current rating and this is something positive".

The news portal also quoted Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz as saying Malaysia had the capacity to address these concerns in a gradual and sequence manner.

She said both the central bank and the government have been addressing all the issues all this while.

"We will set up to increase our economy to be more resilient and better enhance our potential to sustain growth," she said.

(Source: The Malaysian Insider)