Budget 2014 Highlights / Summary:
1) Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M 2014) to be increased from RM500 to RM650. Applicants must have household income of less than RM4,000 to be eligible for cash aid.
2) 1Malaysia Book Voucher Program (BB1M): RM250 for each student.
3) Bantuan Persekolahan of RM100 continues.
4) To implement 2nd phase of High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) in collaboration with private sector involving RM1.8bil investment. This is expected to provide more coverage in urban areas, benefiting 2.8 million households. Internet speed will be increased to 10 Mbps.
5) Projects to be implemented include 316-kilometre West Coast Expressway from Banting to Taiping as well as double-tracking projects from Ipoh to Padang Besar and later from Gemas to Johor Baharu.
6) Government will create a Night Market Traders Entrepreneur Scheme with an allocation of RM100 million under Bank Simpanan Nasional.
7) RM500 one-off incentive to Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) contributors with a minimum cumulative investment of RM1,000 within a year.
8) Implementation of 6% GST (Government Service Tax) from 1st April 2015.
9) Tax reduction for households RM4,000 income and below. No income tax for Households with income of RM4,000 per month and below.
10) Government to double contribution to 1Malaysia Retirement Savings Scheme from RM60 to RM120, per person, a year.
11) 50 new 1Malaysia Clinics in 2014, 6000 new nurses to be trained and RM3.3 billion allocated to providing the best medical supplies to public healthcare institutions.
