KUALA LUMPUR: The government allocates billions of ringgit for subsidies for the various sectors every year and any allegation otherwise is untrue, says Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
As such, the people should not listen to accusations that the government did not provide any form of subsidies for them because all these were mere lies, said the prime minister.
He said he was aware of the grievances of the people calling upon the government to provide subsidies to reduce the rising cost of living.
“As announced in the 2018 Budget, the government has allocated RM3.9 billion for subsidies on transportation and goods such as cooking gas and oil, flour and more.
“In addition to goods, subsidies were also allocated for electricity and tolls to prevent the increase in their rates. The government also allocates high subsidies to the health sector annually,” he said through a posting on his official blog (www.najibrazak.com) today.
Najib, who is also finance minister, said RM26.5 billion was allocated for healthcare in 2018, despite the sector only collecting RM600 million. The rest of the expenses will be fully borne by the government.
Since 2012, he said, fees for public schools had been waived and the government also funds about 90 per cent of university tuition fees.
“For example, the fees for a medical education programme before the subsidy is RM289,885. But after the subsidy, students only need to pay a fee of RM9,000 during the course of study. This is another example of how education subsidies are channelled,” he added.
For the housing sector, Najib said subsidies in the form of deposit assistance was given through the MyDeposit Scheme, and subsidised low-cost housing such as the People's Housing Programme, Felda Second Generation Homes and National Smallholders Development Authority's (Risda) Rumah Bina Negara, among others.