KUALA LUMPUR: This week's 'Beyond the Headlines' covers Putrajaya's policies under the Madani government led by our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after a year in office.
We began the discussion with the eMadani e-credit initiative where RM1 billion to 10 million Malaysians will receive RM100 one-off cash credit beginning Monday.
Eligible Malaysians can apply for the one-off cash credit of RM100 via four e-wallet service providers namely MAE, Setel, ShopeePay and Touch 'n Go.
Some experts have criticised the government's RM100 e-wallet credit disbursement, asserting it merely boosts e-wallet commercial providers and risks inflation.
Economists Samirul Ariff Othman together with Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid joined us to also weigh in on the e-wallet scheme and the risks it posed when matched with the need for boosting Malaysia's state of financial literacy.
We also touched on the measures towards subsidy rationalisation and trade reforms that have taken place, particularly on whether there have been enough capacity building efforts on the ground being done the past year.
One particular highlight is on the mechanism of the targeted RON95 subsidy programme which will involve a cross-ministerial discussion before its roll out, following a cabinet decision made on the policy.
While the roll out of the targeted RON95 subsidy programme is geared at the second half of 2024, many agreed that the Central Database Hub (Padu) should be tested.
Arguments surrounding the Progressive Wage Model were also discussed, but mainly on understanding the need for its implementation as the country moves towards steady GDP growth.
A Progressive Wage Policy White Paper is one of the government's strategies to increase the median wage for workers, thus increasing the rate of Employee Compensation (CE) during the remaining period of the 12th Malaysia Plan as well as the period 10 years from now.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the CE rate was at 32 per cent last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic which caused many to lose their jobs.
Follow the discussion in the video podcast for a deeper dive into the issues highlighted…
* This episode of 'Beyond the Headlines' was recorded on Nov 30.