A WEEK before the tabling of Budget 2020, this column highlighted that the budget will likely be a non-event as far as the market is concerned for the simple reason that the government’s finances are tight and it cannot simply afford the many wishes of the wide range of stakeholders.
While economic projections came within expectations, especially with respect to the budget deficit target of 3.2% and development expenditure of RM56bil, the projected revenue and expenditure were off by 4% each as they came in higher than expected.