As Putrajaya plans the upcoming budget around its Shared Prosperity vision, academics have pressed for a bigger focus on welfare and wages.

Presenting his thoughts at the Budget 2020: Making Shared Prosperity a Reality forum today, economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram said he foresaw a global recession and stressed that an expansionary budget was necessary to weather the risks.

The upcoming budget needs to allocate a bigger portion of public funds on healthcare, education and social protection so that more Malaysians benefit from these programmes, he said.

Jomo lauded Putrajaya’s focus on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as well as on the recently announced free breakfast initiative for primary school students ...