Published: 2009/03/10
MALAYSIA'S government will add RM60 billion (US$16.27 billion) in new spending over 2009 and 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said in Parliament today.This is much more than the RM30 billion many economists expected.
Najib said he is confident the deficit can be financed from domestic sources The government slashed 2009 GDP forecast, projecting a range between a contraction of 1 per cent and a 1 per cent expansion, down from forecast growth of 3.5 per cent
Even with the new measures, Malaysia’s unemployment will rise to 4.5 per cent from 3.7 per cent, the deputy premier said, and he promised that Malaysia’s government sector, often criticised for being inefficient and overstaffed, would create 63,000 jobs.