'Why announce T15 policies when you haven't even defined group?'

'Why announce T15 policies when you haven't even defined group?'


Published: Oct 21, 2024 3:19 PM


BUDGET 2025 | Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has taken the government to task for referring to the T15 (top 15 percent) income group in the Budget 2025 tabled last Friday even though its parameters have yet to be defined.

In response to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli saying the T15 classification was being refined, Syed Saddiq (above) questioned why policies impacting the group were being announced at this point.

“How come the government could announce in the budget that the ‘mahakaya’ (extremely rich) enjoys RM8 billion in (RON95) petrol subsidies (a year)?

“Don’t ‘announce first, (and then) think later’. People’s lives are at stake,” he said in a post on X.

In tabling the budget, Prime Minister Anwar said foreigners and the T15 were enjoying some 40 percent of the government’s RON95 subsidies.

He announced that the government would implement targeted RON95 subsidies from the middle of next year, though 85 percent of the population would not be affected.

On education subsidies, Anwar added that the government plans to increase fees for children of the T15 studying in government boarding schools like science institutes - referring to MRSM - as well as in public higher education institutions.

The finance minister said 30 percent of students in these elite schools and public universities are from higher-income families.

Rafizi said yesterday that income classifications including for B40 and T15 would be based on net household income instead of gross household income, and that other factors would also be taken into consideration.

He also said that the government would introduce a two-tier system for RON95 subsidies.

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kt comments:

Syed is right