00:00Fiscal reforms, including the expansion of the sales and service tax, are crucial to boosting social spending and delivering targeted aid to the wider population, says an economist.
00:13Madeline Burma, a senior fellow at the Institute Masa Depan Malaysia, believes a projected increase in tax revenue of more than RM5 billion from the SSD expansion, starting July 1, could be channeled into direct cash assistance programs such as Sumbangai Tunai Rahma and Sumbangan Asas Rahma.
00:31She also said improved infrastructure and public services funded by higher tax revenue could raise productivity and help narrow the gap between the rich and poor, as such fiscal reforms could help resolve two major shortcomings in Malaysia's social protection system, insufficient coverage and inadequate benefits.
00:50Recently, Treasury Secretary General Johan Mahmud Merikan said the expansion of the SSD scope is important to strengthen the country's fiscal position and increase revenue, in order to improve the social safety net without burdening majority of the population.
01:05Three main reasons to make the necessary necessary. One is to ensure the safety of the public and the second is to ensure there is a fiscal space to be able to act if there is a global peace and security.
01:26Meanwhile, Economist Barjoai Bardai from the Malaysian University of Science and Technology proposed that workers who had contributed to the social security,
01:34the social security organization for more than two years be eligible for protection after retirement, as part of a long-term comprehensive social protection plan, adding that such contributors should receive a pension amounting to half of their last drawn salary.
