BUTTERWORTH: The Finance Ministry will look into creating more jobs and improving the people's income to realise the Shared Prosperity Vision goal of achieving a decent standard of living for all Malaysians by 2030.
Its Minister Lim Guan Eng said the two important aspects would increase the purchasing power among the people, and bridge the socio-economy gap and promote the country's economic growth further.
He said more details involving both initiatives would be made at the tabling of the 2020 Budget on Oct 11.
"For me, the important aspect is to create more jobs with reasonable salaries. This is to increase the purchasing power among the people, especially the lower income group. This will also contribute positively towards reducing the dependency on foreign workers.
"These two aspects would be given priority as it would not only bridge the socio-economy gap, but would also improve the income and ensure prosperity is generated to be shared by the people.
"For Malaysia, our priority is still economic growth. In order for shared prosperity to be successful, we must first have prosperity. Only if we have prosperity, then we can share with the people. That is why we want to stress on growth so that everyone can benefit," he said here today.
He was met at the launch of the "Kampungku Sihat" programme by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad chaired a special cabinet meeting on the Shared Prosperity Vision, stressing that the government would focus on poorer states, reducing the wealth disparity with richer ones, as well as the gap between the urban and rural areas.
He had said a programme would be established to increase the income of those living in rural areas.
Dr Mahathir also listed Kelantan, Perlis and Kedah as the three poorest states in the country.
Lim said efforts to realise the Shared Prosperity Vision was not his ministry's alone, but also involves the participation of all in a holistic approach.
He said in the aspect of development, while they adhered to recommendations and plans set out, they could not however escape from negative impacts due to global forces.
Lim cited yesterday's attack on two Saudi Arabia's oil facilities by Yemen's Houthi group, which knockied out more than half of the Kingdom’s petroleum output, which is expected to send oil prices soaring and increase tensions in the Middle East.
"So, that is the challenge we face," he said..
Asked if priority would be given to strengthening the ringgit, Lim said based on global trend, many countries wanted their currencies to weaken.
"This is seen as a counter measure towards the position of tariff. For example, when you say the ringgit or any currency for the matter go down by five per cent, this will counter-act the increase in tariff .
"Malaysia’s largest trading partner is China. So, when China's Renminbi goes down, and you know the United States has labeled China as a currency manipulator, ours also go down.
"Another instance is other neighbouring countries may have lesser growth than Malaysia in the second quarter, yet their currencies strenghtened by five per cent. Why? Because they are tied to the US
"So, we are all determined by global factors and not so much what is happening locally. And when we talk about strengthening the ringgit, there are pros and cons," he said, adding that there was no clear cut yes or no answer or black and white answer.
Some, Lim said, claimed that stronger currency was good because it would bring down the costs, but noted that Malaysia's costs were already low
"Look at our inflation rate, it 1.5 per cent, which is already low. Recently, we managed to contain cost of living
"On the other hand, you look at those who say that 'if you have a weaker currency, it also helps to generate economic growth because things are cheaper, so there are both pros and cons.," he added.