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PM Anwar’s Robin Hood Budget is populist but no game changer for Malaysia’s economy

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Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim on Friday unveiled an expanded RM388.1 billion (S$118 billion) government Budget for this year.

Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim on Friday unveiled an expanded RM388.1 billion (S$118 billion) government Budget for this year.

PHOTO: AFP

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There’s a story going around that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim eschews wearing a necktie because he adheres to the view that it’s a symbol of subjugation to the wealthy aristocratic class.

The story’s probably apocryphal, but it is in keeping with the messaging so far from his three-month-old government. The revised

Budget 2023 he tabled on Friday

further reinforced this stance, containing measures to tax and redistribute the wealth of the “super-rich”.

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