World Bank welcomes comprehensiveness of 2019 Budget

KUALA LUMPUR: The World Bank has welcomed the comprehensiveness of Malaysia's 2019 Budget, which is aligned with the policy direction of the new government.
World Bank Country Manager for Malaysia Dr Firas Raad said this budget saw many different priorities especially over the medium term.
"We are impressed with the commitment to education and we think that this is very important given where the country is.
"With the aspiration to reach that threshold to becoming a higher income developed country, it will have to invest in ways where the children of this country should learn much better especially in maths and science," he told Bernama News Channel in an exclusive interview.
He noted the importance of children having the right skills in making sure that the human capital of Malaysia would be in a position to really push the country over the threshold to reaching a higher income level and be able to compete with its neighbours.
On taxes, he expects some of the measures to lead to a positive developments especially the sin tax and new sugar tax.
"I think that is a positive development because I know this country is going to face this megatrend of population ageing down the road, and with the ageing population come all sorts of chronic diseases and the incidence would be greater, so the government needs to do much more in meeting these challenges," he added.
However, there may be short-term effects on stakeholders related to the beverage industry, he noted. — Bernama