KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — Malaysia’s agriculture sector is likely to get an increased allocation in next week’s Budget 2023 retabling as Putrajaya moves to address the growing cost of food and other food security concerns.

Muhammad Daaniyall Abd Rahman, a senior lecturer at the School of Business and Economics in Universiti Putra Malaysia said he expects more funds to be channelled for programmes that will modernise local agricultural practices to boost investments into the sector, Sinar Harian reported today.

“It cannot be denied that the government will also focus on other sectors in the country such as manufacturing and services sectors, but the agricultural sector should be given special attention so that the productivity of food production in the country is increased.

“This is to fulfil demand and to stabilise the cost of food,” he was quoted as saying.

He also believes the government will consider some form of aid to help those in the lower end of the middle-income wage bracket who are now struggling with living costs.

“If you see the Budget before this, this group did not receive any aid except in the form of tax cut incentives.

“However, it must be remembered that this group feels pressure following the increase in inflation and cost of living,” he was quoted as saying.

Another economic expert Shankaran Nambiar told the Malay language daily that the government will need to rein in the country’s debts and liabilities that have exceeded RM1.5 trillion in its Budget revision.

“The Budget that will be retabled must be an indicator that the government has strategies to reduce national debt aside from reducing the fiscal deficit,” the senior research fellow at the Malaysian Institute Of Economic Research was quoted as saying.

He suggested that the government could introduce low-cost grocery stores selling subsidised vegetables, cooking oil and meat among other necessities in the revised Budget.

Malaysia’s food bill has been growing over the years with its food imports far outstripping its food exports.

Government data put the country’s agrofood imports at RM64 billion compared to RM39 billion exports last year.

Shankaran also called for the government to come up with a social safety scheme as an alternative to letting contributors tap into their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) whenever they are struggling with their finances.

“The issue of EPF withdrawals requires a sustainable solution as we cannot afford to accommodate frequent withdrawals,” he was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, is scheduled to table a revised Budget 2023 in Parliament next Friday to help Malaysia weather the continuing global post-pandemic economic headwinds.

* A previous version of the report incorrectly stated that Budget 2023 would be tabled on Monday instead of next Friday, February 24.