KUALA LUMPUR: The income gap between the top 20% (T20) and the bottom 40% (B40) of the household income groups has widened from RM2,000 in 1990 to over RM10,000 in 2016.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the economic structure since two decades ago had widened this gap among the people, whether between income groups, ethnic groups, regions, as well as along the supply chain.
The Prime Minister said this when launching the WKB2030 titled “Restructuring Malaysia’s Development Priorities”, the roadmap for the nation from 2021 to 2030, here today.
“The ethnic (income) gap between Bumiputeras and Chinese, and between Indians and Chinese has grown from 3.5 to four folds over the last 27 years.
“The ethnic gap differences are also evident in the field of employment, value-added business, and total corporate wealth dominance distribution between Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras,“ he said.
Meanwhile, he said the regional economic distribution gap between regions also expanded, with 40% of the country’s gross domestic product concentrated in Kuala Lumpur.
“The median income gap in the territory (Kuala Lumpur) totalled more than RM10,500 compared to the median income outside of Kuala Lumpur by almost half.
“The urban and rural economic gap and the gaps between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak also astonishingly widened,“ he added.
In the context of supply chain, he said cases of monopoly and profiteering have markedly increased with some controlling the supply chain, leading to lack of participation of other groups, especially small and medium enterprises.
“The problem persists right from small groups of farmers and fishermen to big companies,“ he said. — Bernama
