KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Budget 2016 is comprehensive and showed the government’s commitment to fiscal reform as well as striking a balance between fiscal sustainability and the need to support economic growth amid challenging global and local economic environment. 

Group managing director of RHB Banking Group Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said the budget also set the priorities and direction for the country to achieve a high-income economy by 2020.

“The fiscal deficit target of 3.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from the revised Budget 2015 figure of 3.2 per cent, would not only take the country closer towards fiscal consolidation but also strengthen its sovereign ratings,” he said in a statement today. 

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Finance Minister, tabled Budget 2016, themed “Prospering the Rakyat” in the Dewan Rakyat here, today.

Khairussaleh believed the various measures and incentives in the budget reflected the focus of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan in sustaining quality growth for the country’s economy over the medium term, including addressing the rising cost of living, especially for the low and medium-income households. 

“I am particularly pleased the government has provided additional funding to boost the small and medium enterprises’ participation, as such the efforts boded well for the growth and development of the financial services sector,” he added. — Bernama