Guan Eng: Budget 2025 not 'Robin Hood' plan, not right to call 'T15 ...

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arrives in Parliament to table Budget 2025, in Kuala Lumpur on October 18, 2024. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

By Malay Mail

Tuesday, 22 Oct 2024 2:50 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng today defended Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Budget 2025 from comparisons to English folklore hero Robin Hood who robbed the rich and gave to the poor.

Instead, he said the comparisons were due to some of Anwar’s remarks being taken out of context; the prime minister used the term “ultra rich” when describing the top 15 per cent of income earners in the country.

Lim today said this was not a fair label to apply on the group, which he said included households earning around RM15,000 a month and contributed to the country’s public coffers through taxes.

“The country cannot succeed and prosper without harnessing the full potential and contributions of all citizens, not just the B40 and M40 groups, but also including the T20 group,” Lim said in his speech for the debate on the Budget in Parliament.

“It is not simply a matter of imposing penalties on the rich, but rather asking the fortunate to help those who are weak, impoverished, or disadvantaged. This is the aspiration of the unity government, which includes all citizens, regardless of race, religion, or background.”

The Bagan MP said proposals such as a 2 per cent tax on dividends above RM100,000 annually and the retargetting of RON95 subsidy for the so-called “T15” group were a matter of addressing income inequality in the country.

In this RM421 billion Budget 2025 tabled last Friday, Anwar said the government would retarget RON95 subsidies to eliminate assistance from the “T15”.

He also said education and healthcare subsidies for the group would be removed, as they should be helping to fund the country’s development.

The proposals led some including Lim’s fellow DAP member Chong Chien Jen to reportedly say the federal spending plan had Robin Hood-like elements.