Public Bank founder, chairman emeritus, director and adviser Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow
We are encouraged to note that the government has again prioritised the rakyat’s well-being as a key focus pillar when formulating Budget 2022. As widely expected, Budget 2022 is expansionary, but nevertheless a necessary one and comes at a pivotal time as Malaysia charts its post-pandemic growth.
With a renewed path mapped out and the country’s investment prospects reinvigorated, underpinned by Budget 2022, the Public Bank group will continue to play its role in actively facilitating growth, while also continuing to engage with customers and providing assistance when and where necessary to aid in the rehabilitation and rebuilding of our national resilience. To this end, the government’s ongoing initiatives in providing support by way of subsidies, grants, and various other measures of assistance totalling RM31 billion is lauded.
We applaud Budget 2022 which appropriately balances the mix between reducing income inequality, expanding on targeted assistance to households and businesses while also investing into the nation’s healthcare and basic infrastructures. Amongst specific measures include allocating RM8.2 billion to a newly-introduced Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia program which will benefit 9.6 million recipients and RM4.8 billion set aside to create 600,000 employment opportunities.
Just as importantly, Budget 2022 also focuses on the future with spending allocated toward enhancing digital and technological infrastructures, while facilitating the transition of industrial sectors toward greater automation. It is important that no one is left behind in the eventual unfolding of this new age of development. To this end, the government’s allocation of RM30 million to provide internet access to 40 low-cost housing schemes and RM700 million toward ensuring digital connectivity in 47 industrial areas and 630 schools in rural areas is much welcomed.
The Public Bank group affirms its commitment in partnering the government and various stakeholders toward advancing sustainability-based agendas. The world has made progress in arresting the negative effects from climate change, but more can and needs to be done. Apathy will be the greatest injustice to our future generations.
We are fully supportive of Budget 2022 and see it as an important platform to reignite the drive of the nation. Both the public and private sectors must work in partnership to spur economic recovery, while ensuring that the rakyat’s welfares are preserved.
Maybank group president & CEO Datuk Abdul Farid Alias
Budget 2022 maintains an expansionary fiscal policy to support and sustain the socioeconomic healing from the pandemic as we adopt and adapt to living with Covid-19. It is important for this Budget to create opportunities for individuals and businesses to transition into a recovering economy ripe for growth and focused on productivity measures.
The enhancements to cash aids, welfare payments and the social security system help to ensure the wellbeing of lower income households, vulnerable segments of the society, self-employed and informal sector workers who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. These are complemented with measures to improve the labour market conditions and reduce unemployment rate such as the extension and expansion of hiring incentives, job creation initiatives as well as skills and industrial training programmes.
Budget 2022’s RM40 billion allocation for grants, loans, guarantees and equities to all businesses ranging from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to public listed companies can further support industry and sector revivals as the economy re-opens. From the banking sector perspective, we welcome the expansion in housing credit guarantee and micro credit schemes to workers and businesses in the informal sectors, specifically aimed at facilitating access to financing and enabling financial inclusion.
The banking industry, together with the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency has also developed its own targeted programme to continue supporting the most vulnerable segment of individual customers through a comprehensive extended financial assistance scheme. This scheme, known as Financial Management and Resilience Programme (Programme Pengurusan & Ketahanan, Urus) will provide holistic financial management solutions for B50 customers.
This scheme goes beyond an interest waiver option and a reduction in instalment, but focuses on supporting the B50 customers in their transition out of the various repayment assistance schemes in order to resume their financial obligations and continue contributing to the economy.
Another aspect of this Budget that we also like includes the balanced approach on infrastructure spending and investment, covering basic rural, social (healthcare and education), digital and green infrastructures to address development and digital gap, human capital, sustainability, environment and climate issues.
CIMB group CEO Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad
As Malaysia charts its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are pleased to see the Malaysian government’s commitment to drive inclusive and sustainable growth through its 2022 Budget, which looks set to strengthen the country’s economic resilience and rebuild market confidence.
It is optimal that the government continues to emphasise policies that are aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through Budget 2022, the government has reiterated its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and doubled down on its commitment towards driving the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, through investments that will stimulate economic activities and growth whilst minimising harm to the environment and our communities.
This commitment includes ensuring alignment with green budgeting to ensure development projects and programmes that support climate resilience, and the provision of financing to support the low carbon transition. Additionally, we welcome the government’s plans for sustainability sukuk issuance amounting up to RM10 billion in the year ahead to be channelled to qualified social and climate-friendly projects. This is to follow the successful issuance of its dual tranche US$1.3 billion sukuk wakala offering this year, where the offering’s US$800 million tranche was the world’s first US dollar sustainability sukuk offered by a sovereign.
As the country continues to grapple with the impact of the prolonged pandemic, we are pleased to see the focus on initiatives that will benefit the B40 group and businesses, especially MSMEs, the backbone of our economy. This includes, for example, access to financing for MSMEs and the informal sector. The government’s initiatives to promote inclusivity by targeting to reduce the income gap, as well as the development gap between states, will lead to a greater income, wealth and social equity. Along with the focus on upskilling and reskilling of workers in Malaysia to enhance productivity, these initiatives may also promote a more broad-based and sustainable recovery in economic growth. The focus on areas such as infrastructure and digitalisation, will also close the digital divide and promote digital inclusion amongst Malaysians.
As a financial intermediary, CIMB plays a critical role in channelling financing and capital in ways that will support the transition towards a net zero economy and greater social equity, and we will continue to play our part in supporting the national recovery agenda as outlined in Budget 2022. Through collaboration with all stakeholders across the private and public sectors and civil society, we are confident that together, we will be able to create a productive and resilient economy that will truly benefit the rakyat.
Standard Chartered Malaysia managing director and CEO Abrar A Anwar
The country’s “Keluarga Malaysia” Budget 2022 is an inclusive one, focusing on economic recovery, building resilience as well as driving socio-economic reform and the national development agenda.
With vaccine rollouts being a critical factor to economic recovery, the procurement of an additional 88 million doses of vaccines under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will contribute significantly to nationwide efforts to contain the pandemic which will, in turn, have positive effects on Malaysia’s economic recovery.
As the first financial institution in Malaysia to be globally certified for workplace gender equality, Standard Chartered is heartened by the women empowerment agenda in the Budget – from subsidies specific to women health and the RM2 billion JaminKerja wage incentives to help women returning to work, to a compulsory one-woman minimum requirement in the board composition for public listed companies. We also welcome the government’s allocation of RM230 million for women entrepreneurs through the Dananita Programme under Tekun to lift and drive greater economic participation of women entrepreneurs. Raising productivity and enhancing human capital amongst women are key to putting our economy back on track.
The provision of over RM46 billion worth of guarantees by Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP) to-date has helped SMEs – one of the hardest-hit segments – tide over the challenges of the pandemic. As such, we laud the move to enhance SJPP by providing guarantees for rescheduled and restructured loans at a higher limit of RM10 billion to enable businesses to secure new financing, especially with digitalisation and automation proving to be crucial elements in business resilience.
We’re proud to align ourselves to Malaysia’s commitment to be a carbon-neutral nation by 2050, as we commit to reaching net zero carbon emissions from our operations by 2030 and from our financing by 2050. The Voluntary Carbon Market initiative cannot come at a more critical time as the planet faces one of its biggest challenges; climate change. Everyone has a role to play, and it’s encouraging to note that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will be receiving assistance to implement sustainable and low-carbon practices into their business via a RM1 billion allocation from Bank Negara Malaysia.
We welcome the allocation of RM2 billion to attract foreign direct investments which will no doubt help to continue attracting quality investments to add value to the country’s economy. As facilitators of cross-border trade, we also welcome the provision of RM25 million provided to Halal Development Corp for halal advisory, advocacy, digitalisation and development to support local halal businesses thrive within the global halal ecosystem.
Industry 4.0 is gearing up with robotics and artificial intelligence transforming the industrial and commercial landscape, and digitalisation changing the way we work and play. As a leader in the digital banking space, we welcome the establishment of an innovation hub in Technology Park Malaysia – where Standard Chartered’s global operations hub is located – as a one-stop centre for innovation ecosystem and new technology cluster development that will benefit future technopreneurs. Aspiring entrepreneurs will also benefit from National Regulatory Sandbox under MOF along with the MyStartup strategy under MyDigital initiative and the RM45 million allocation for SMEs under Industry4WRD. Standard Chartered will continue to invest into innovating our services while working with the government, local partners and businesses to build a more accessible, future-ready and sustainable economy.
OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd CEO Datuk Ong Eng Bin
The National Budget 2022 is aimed at rebuilding Malaysia steadily as we recover from the pandemic. It rightly focuses on helping individuals and businesses regain their footing by continuing to provide support even as the economy improves. This remains necessary as they still need considerable help.
The government’s initiatives on addressing the climate change issues and other sustainability-related measures are timely and I am glad that the banking sector remains in a position to play its key role in the rebuilding efforts. There is every reason to be optimistic about the future as the building blocks are in place.
