PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) believes that Budget 2025 underscores the Madani government’s commitment to driving economic growth while ensuring fiscal consolidation, targeting a reduction in the fiscal deficit from 4.3% in 2024 to 3.8% in 2025.
“In recent years, key reforms to various food, fuel and electricity subsidies have been put in place, the outcome of which has been reflected by a decline in subsidies and social assistance expenditures.
“These reforms indicate a shift towards the partial retargeting of subsidies, with savings channelled to welfare assistance programmes for vulnerable groups,” MARC said in a statement yesterday.
While the government aims to further streamline the key fuel subsidy for RON95 petrol by mid-2025, MARC said it is unlikely that petrol prices will fully reflect market rates in the short term.
