The Malaysia Budget 2023 themed “Strengthening Recovery, Facilitating Reforms Towards Sustainable Socio-Economic Resilience of Keluarga Malaysia” will be announced on 7th October 2022. The Finance Minister stated that the Budget will focus on subsidy management and strengthening the country against fiscal consolidation and future shocks. The direction of the Budget 2023 is to prioritise the four main limbs in the country: the Rakyat, business, economy and the government. 

Subsidy Management

The key focus of the Budget 2023 compared to Budget 2022 is reform initiatives, as opposed to recovery. The Government also acknowledges the challenges the country faced the past year in regards to the rise in commodity and food prices as well as supply disruptions. 

Fiscal consolidation

The Budget 2023 also aims to focus on a fair and equitable distribution of wealth. In this context, the government acknowledges that the country risks impact on climate changes and geopolitical uncertainties. Therefore, this measure is said to be critical to implement reforms. 

Related read: Budget 2022  »

Despite the challenges faced the past two years, the Malaysian economy is predicted to remain resilient at 5.7% in 2023 while headline inflation is forecast to moderate at 2% in 2023, according to the IMF’s Article IV Consultation Staff Report released in April 2022. This projection is based on Malaysia moving towards the endemic phase and reopening its international borders completely in 2022. 

The three priority areas of the Malaysia Budget 2023 are as follows: 

1. Reinforcing the momentum of economic recovery by ensuring it is not just a recovery in GDP terms but also a job and income recovery for Malaysians and businesses. 
2. Strengthening economic resilience against future shocks through reforms towards better social protection especially of vulnerable segments of society, a stronger public health system, more sustainable fiscal position to provide buffers against future shocks and by undertaking more targeted forms of subsidies and assistance. 
3. Implementing comprehensive reforms in the economic and social aspects for businesses, priority sectors and the nation to emerge more competitive globally while advancing its sustainable development agenda.

Stay tuned for updates on the Budget 2023.