Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said today that it can increase government revenue by nine per cent to RM181 billion without introducing new taxes.
The federal opposition’s alternative budget stated that RM15.5 billion can be raised through auctions of approved permits (APs), higher oil prices and reintroducing import tax on 200 luxury items that was lifted by Barisan Nasional (BN) last year.
“These APs are currently issued at RM10,000 each by the government. The main recipients are influential cronies. It has been reported that these can subsequently be resold for RM40,000-RM50,000 each. If, in auction, the issue price is RM30,000 instead of RM10,000, an additional RM1.2 billion will be earned,” the alternative budget said.
PR also expects oil prices to average RM330 per barrel based on forecasts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), up from RM310 in 2009, leading to higher profits from state oil company Petronas.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) had launched PR’s alternative budget earlier today, stating that it would cap expenditure at RM220 billion, resulting in a deficit of 4.4 per cent.
“This is a substantial narrowing from the estimated six per cent in 2011 under the tutelage of BN,” the alternative budget said, adding that Putrajaya’s deficit was at 7.4 and 5.6 per cent in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said Friday’s Budget 2012 will tackle the rising cost of living after seeing inflation persist at a two-year high of over three per cent since March.
The prime minister is expected to “break the bank” by including announcements such as a new civil service pay scheme that will see wages rise by as much as 40 per cent.
