The following are the salient points in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s 90-minute 2009 Budget speech. The 2009 Budget is Abdullah’s fifth since taking over as prime minister from Dr Mahathir Mohamad in October 2003.

Gov't to spend record RM208 bil for 2009

The total expenditure was set at RM207.9 billion for 2009 compared to RM176.9 in 2008.

Of this amount, RM154.2 billion is for operating expenditure, while RM53.7 billion is for development expenditure.

In 2008, the operating expenditure was RM128.8 billion and RM48.1 billion for development expenditure.