KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — The government through the Economy Ministry should find solutions to increase the income of the people and the country, including studying and measuring the effectiveness of the initiatives implemented, said Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin.
At the debate session on the Supply Bill 2023 in Dewan Rakyat today, she suggested that the government conduct a longitudinal study by collecting data on income and employment development for each recipient of the initiatives.
“The results of the study should be tabled in Parliament from time to time.
“Hence, Parliament can objectively assess whether the initiatives carried out by the government are really helping the target groups, and subsequently refine and improve them (as) our policy must be outcome-based,” she said.
Among the initiatives implemented by the government is the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) which targets the hardcore poor and the B40 group (bottom 40 per cent of the household income group) to earn a minimum monthly income of RM2,000.
Launched on Feb 26, 2023, the IPR will involve three main segments, namely Inisiatif Usahawan Tani (Intan), Inisiatif Usahawan Makanan (Insan), and Inisiatif Operator Perkhidmatan (Ikhsan), aimed at overcoming the people’s daily economic problems.
Meanwhile, in the same debate session, Paya Besar MP Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah said the government needs to implement consistent and stable fiscal consolidation so that the country is able to grow its revenue and settle its national debt.
He said that the World Bank recently urged Malaysia to seek other sources of revenue so that the country achieves fiscal sustainability with a better direction.
“The government can take the initiative to review the formulas for solving economic problems made by the previous government, whereby Malaysia was able to record impressive growth amid global economic headwinds at that time,” he said. — Bernama
