KUALA LUMPUR: Initiatives to improve the wellbeing of Malaysians and those from the Bottom 40 (B40) group announced in the Budget 2020 will help to reduce the income gap between the wealthy and the less well-off, says MIDF Research. “Budget 2020 reflects the government’s commitment to reduce income inequality between rural and urban areas by allocating the largest portion of development expenditure to Sabah and Sarawak, which will be used to expand coverage of basic infrastructure – water, electrification and roads,” it said in a statement today. The research firm also noted that youth employment remained a challenge, even though the economy was running at full employment. The research firm said the government was optimistic that the economy would remain buoyant. “As for 2019, we maintain our forecast for the economy to grow by 4.9 per cent,” said the firm.

Source: New Strait Times October 12, 2019 08:26 UTC