Budget 2018 reflects the Government’s sensitivity towards the Rakyat, through caring yet practical policies, particularly for the B40 and M40. 

Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, Group Chief Executive, CIMB Group notes that focus on bread-and-butter issues, like reducing income tax for the lower income group, increasing assistance for basic food and transportation items and providing more allocation for affordable homes will go a long way towards ensuring the Rakyat’s short- and long-term interests.

The focus on building more than 385,000 affordable homes shows that the Government is taking firm steps to address head-on the challenge of home ownership for the lower-income group. Extending PR1MA’s step-up financing scheme to private housing developers is also a laudable move towards facilitating home-ownership.  

“On enabling further a digital economy, the Digital Free Trade Zone that is already taking shape will make Malaysia a major fulfilment gateway and commercial hub for ASEAN, providing opportunities to the nation’s economic backbone, the SMEs, and more jobs. Related to this, CIMB Group, as a leading universal bank with a strong footprint in ASEAN, is ever ready to facilitate SMEs’ cross-border trade and business expansion regionally.”  

The policies on GLC’s operations, particularly in ensuring the well-being of staff reflect a people-focused vision by the government. Indeed, quite a few of them, like flexi-work arrangements and childcare centres at work, have already been implemented by CIMB.

“On the whole, this appears to be a carefully crafted budget, addressing the Rakyat’s immediate concerns, and yet forward-looking enough to ensure the nation’s future economic, social and spiritual development.”

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