Shadow budget will only burden Malaysians, says Chua

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat's shadow budget pledging to increase the minimum wage by RM200 will increase the country's debt and burden Malaysians.

MCA Young Professionals Bureau chairman Datuk Chua Tee Yong refuted the Opposi-tion's claim that increasing the minimum wage to RM1,100 was the best move for working groups.

Citing an example, Chua said the country currently had three million foreign workers, and if each person received an extra RM200, it would translate to an additional RM600mil monthly or RM7.2bil a year.

“If the RM7.2bil is used to generate more income for Malaysia, that will be fantastic,” he said.

“But, that is not the case here.”

 “The RM7.2bil will be an outflow, as the money will be remitted to foreign workers' home countries,” he said in a statement yesterday.

 Chua, who is also Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister, said in the end, the people would have to bear the RM7.2bil as business owners would pass on the cost to the rakyat.

He pointed out that the RM7.2bil was equivalent to twice the amount the Government spent on Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M).

He also derided Pakatan's promise to reduce the price of petrol and abolish tolls, saying both were not addressed in their Budget.

“How will they reduce the petrol price? Where's the calculation?”

 Source: The Star

 

Reference: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/10/6/nation/12133850&sec=nation