PUTRAJAYA: The Pakatan Harapan government has decided to postpone at least five of the initiatives contained in its ‘10 promises in 100 days’ election manifesto, until the country’s financial situation recovers.
Among the initiatives which will be postponed are:
- Targeted petrol subsidy for cars under 1,300cc and motorcycles under 125cc;
- Employees Provident Fund contributions for housewives
- Raising the minimum wage
- Delaying the repayment period for National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans for graduates earning RM4,000 and below a month
- Expanding the Selangor government’s Skim Peduli Sihat nationwide, which offers RM500 basic treatment at registered private clinics for B40 households
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the initiatives will only be carried out by the Federal government once the country’s financial situation improves.
“As much as the government wants to carry out all these in 100 days, the government has a fiscal responsibility and will not repeat the mistakes of the previous government by creating financial problems which will lead the country to bankruptcy if not contained.
“The government remains committed to fulfilling the manifesto pledges once the financial situation permits.
“If the nation’s financial situation improves in100 days, we will carry out (the initiatives) but if not, we will wait until it improves,” he told a press conference at the Finance Ministry.
On fuel prices, Lim said the price of RON95 petrol and diesel are maintained at the current prices - RM2.20 and RM2.18 per litre, respectively, while RON97 will be set to the current market price and revised every Thursday, beginning June 7.
Report by Azura Abas, Manirajan Ramasamy, Irwan Shafrizan Ismail, Luqman Arif Abdul Karim, Mohd Husni Mohd Noor, Hazwan Faisal Mohamad and Farah Adilla