'Increase in development expenditure to provide near-term growth boost'

The uptick in Malaysia's development expenditure of RM75.6 billion in the 2022 Budget, although more muted than expected, should help to juice up growth in the near term, market observers said. Overall, the RM332.1 billion spending package for next year's national budget is easily the country's largest on record. However, without a requisite marked uptick in revenue, the fiscal deficit is left wide, said OCBC Bank economist Wellian Wiranto. "As we had expected, it remains an expansionary budget, which is not surprising given the need to boost the nascent economic recovery and the political compulsion ahead of a potential election next year.