So, the austerity drive is closer than we thought with the government announcing that proposed subsidy cuts will be implemented from next month.
The Star's frontpage indicates items which will be affected include petrol, food items (sugar, flour, cooking oil), gas/electricity, toll, healthcare and education.
Malaysia will save RM103bil over the next five years if it slashes its subsidy bill now.
On the other hand, the country would become bankrupt by 2019 if the Government debt is allowed to grow reported to be at a rate of 12% per year. Scary statistics..
With increased household expenditure, would it mean there'd be hard times ahead with no vacation trips, no swimming pool laze-abouts on pool floats, no cruises, no Disneyland visits, etc.? It needn't boil down to that if we can manage our finances well. Besides, life is not built on just vacations.
The powers that be also needs to cut down on wastage of the public money. Don't overspend and pay their cronies contracts that are superllatively inflated just to fill each other's pockets.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if some top execs are "bleeding" the nation like how some top execs paid themselves fat bonuses when they knew the company was on the brink of bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Lina's comment.
Lina, I'm sure many Malaysians share your sentiment. It's always the rakyat (people) who get the brunt of it. Thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteMei Teng, that's the real world, unfortunately.