The RM322.5 billion Budget 2021 has been passed with a voice vote midday today in Parliament at the policy stage.
Only 13 MPs had stood up to call for bloc vote, not being enough to reach the needed 15 members for the bloc vote on Budget 2021.
This also comes after Putrajaya agreed to implement an automatic moratorium on loan repayments for the B40 group and micro and small-medium enterprises (SMEs).
The approval from the government will allow for the entitled groups to an automatic three-month moratorium until Dec this year. Finance Minister, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz highlighted in parliament that the applications from the mentioned groups will be approved within 24 hours by banks.
Dubbed as the biggest budget to date, the Budget 2021 will now move on to the committee stage after Opposition members failed to call for bloc voting. The Finance Minister has also stated that the government will be making several cuts to the Supply (Budget) Bill 2021 which will also include the allocation for the Special Affairs Department (JASA).
This comes after a series of criticism aimed at the budget allocated for JASA from both MPs and netizens.
