{
  "id": 16543049,
  "title": "Comparing the economic agendas for GE16",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/comparing-the-economic-agendas-for-ge16",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-26T01:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2026/10/26/comparing-the-economic-agendas-for-ge16"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "From late September until early October, two economic statements were released that will shape the landscape for the upcoming Malaysian general election (GE16). The primary budget was presented by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, while a shadow budget was produced by opposition leader Rafizi Ramli and his party, Bersama. Both documents underscore the importance of sound fiscal management, cutting wastage, leakages, and corruption, and ensuring efficient and clean budgets.\n\nPrime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's budget maintains strict fiscal targets for debt and the fiscal deficit, with the goal of avoiding any breaches in these metrics. He is silent on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), instead opting for a review of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) to make it more GST-like. Anwar has made some tax rate cuts and threshold adjustments, but they fall short of substantive reforms. He also plans to raise the minimum wage, although his approach targets only specific groups and does not include transformative structural reforms for the middle-income population.\n\nIn contrast, Bersama's shadow budget aims for a budget surplus by 2035 and seeks to promote social policy by redistributing income. They propose reintroducing GST at a fixed rate of 5% for ten years while evaluating new taxes like the Retail Electronic Payments Tax (REPT). This shift towards a more substantive tax reform is welcomed. Bersama also plans to extend Rafizi’s Progressive Wage Policy (PWP) to 2.5 million people at a cost of only RM1.8 billion. This is a significant move towards uplifting middle-income earners.\n\nSocial assistance is another area where the two approaches diverge greatly. While Anwar's budget continues with traditional \"Duit Raya\" schemes and maintains low petrol and diesel prices, Bersama advocates for universal child assistance, a universal basic pension, and universal monthly cost-of-living support to raise incomes across ethnicities and interests. By consolidating social support into one ministry and closing 189 separate agencies, Bersama aims for greater focus and efficiency.\n\nFor businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the differences between the two budgets are also significant. Anwar's budget leans heavily on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private sector support through soft-loans and other financial incentives. Bersama, on the other hand, emphasizes reducing red tape, liberalizing the business landscape, and encouraging competition, innovation, and agility. Their approach is more entrepreneurial and focused on freeing resources for the private sector.\n\nIn summary, Anwar's budget resembles a typical Malaysian government budget, with incremental improvements but no real transformation. Conversely, Bersama's shadow budget proposes a comprehensive, universal vision for economic policy that seeks to free business and improve incomes for all Malaysians. The reforms presented by Bersama are both visionary and practical, standing in stark contrast to the status quo. The economic agendas for GE16 are set, and the choice of leadership will determine whether Malaysia takes a step forward or remains stagnant.",
  "summary": "The old and the new were out in force recently as Pakatan Harapan and Bersama laid out their budget and economic agenda for the next general election — and one is streets ahead of the other.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}