MONEY MASTER

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tabled Budget 2016 in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday. Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the theme of the 2016 Budget is “Prospering the Rakyat”. The following are the highlights of his speech: * RM267.2bil has been allocated under Budget 2016, compared with the revised RM260.7bil in 2015. * There will be nine high-impact domestic projects worth RM6.7bil in total. * The first priority of Budget 2016 is to spur domestic investment to contribute 26.7% to the GDP in 2016. * The Budget aims to increase private investment to RM218.6bil and public investment to RM112.2mil. * The GST sum is to be credited into value of prepaid reloads from Jan 1 next year. * Personal income tax pushed to 26% from 25% for those earning between RM600,000 to RM1mil. Income tax is also pushed up to 28pc from 25% for those earning RM1mil and above. * RM900mil is proposed for the Jalan Tun Razak Traffic Dispersal Project to reduce congesti...

BUDGET 2016: NAJIB ALLOCATES RM267.2 BILLION Budget 2016 was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last Friday, with the theme "Prospering the Rakyat", allocating RM267.2 billion compared with the revised RM260.7 billion in 2015.  BUDGET 2016 Among his measures to boost revenue was to raise taxes on the country’s richest individuals. Those earning RM600,000 to RM1 million annually will be taxed at 26% from 25% now, while those earning more than RM1 million a year will pay a rate of 28%. In its 2015/2015 economic report, the government forecast that GDP would grow 4% to 5% in 2016, from 4.5% to 5.5% this year. It sees the fiscal deficit narrowing to 3.1% of GDP in 2016 from a revised 3.2% this year. WCT GETS TRX CONTRACT, BUYS TRX LAND   1MDB is on the spotlight again, as 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd has awarded WCT Holdings Bhd a RM754.8 million contract to build infrastructure and roadway works for the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX). WCT’s indirect unit, WCT Pr...

WAHID: 1MDB issues to be resolved in 2 months 1MDB issues will be resolved in 2 months Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said in an interview with TV3 last Wednesday, "Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) issued a statement before this, saying that the issues related to 1MDB will be resolved in six months, meaning by end of this year." This means that in another 2 months, 1MDB issues will be resolved.  AMPANG PARK TO MAKE WAY FOR MRT STATION Ampang Park in the 70s and now The oldest shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur, Ampang Park Shopping Centre will soon be demolished to make way for the MRT station. The land on which the shopping centre stands is in the process of being acquired by the government under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 for the purpose of constructing the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line. The mall was the brainchild of the Low brothers, following their successful development of People's...

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday that the FBI and Justice Department gather information about bank’s role in transactions at Malaysia fund.  The inquiries are at the information-gathering stage, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the bank, the people said. Investigators “have yet to determine if the matter will become a focus of any investigations into the 1MDB scandal,” a spokeswoman for the FBI said. The widening scandal—investigators in five countries are now looking into 1MDB—highlights the sometimes risky path that Goldman has cut in emerging markets in search of faster growth. 1MDB is now entangled in accusations of billions of dollars of missing money, putting it at the center of a political crisis for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who oversees the fund. Malaysian government investigators earlier this year traced $700 million into Mr. Najib’s alleged bank accounts through agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB, The W...

Yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court today dismissed the Home Ministry's application to stop The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily from resuming publication, pending the outcome of its appeal.  The Edge publication can resume pending outcome from appeal Among other things, Asmabi had said that Zahid was himself "in doubt" on whether The Edge had published its articles by relying on allegedly unverified information on online news portals, especially Sarawak Report. In the legal challenge filed by The Edge, the home minister and the Home Ministry’s secretary-general are named as respondents. A hearing date has yet to be fixed at the Court of Appeal for the government's appeal against the September 21 ruling, Loke said. She also disagreed that the High Court's decision today would render the government's appeal academic. "It is not academic because we are still going to argue that the decision of minister is right. If we ar...

Recently while I surf the net, I come across an article which I think will motivate most of us from the middle class to do differently like the rich people, hopefully we can be like most of the rich people as mentioned in the article "In fact, your daily habits may be a major determinant of your wealth" - and I really agree with this quote. Keeping it as part of my blog post so that whenever I feel that I need motivation, I can just read the article from this blog post. The article is as follows:- 9 Things Rich People Do Differently Every Day What you do today matters. In fact, your daily habits may be a major determinant of your wealth. "The metaphor I like is the avalanche," says Thomas Corley, the author of "Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals." "These habits are like snowflakes — they build up, and then you have an avalanche of success." Corley spent five years studying the lives of both rich people (defi...

MALAYSIA WILL ONLY SIGN TPPA IF BENEFICIAL Malaysia will only sign TPPA if beneficial Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said Malaysia will only agree to the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) if the terms are beneficial to the country. "Malaysia will only enter into the TPPA if it is mutually beneficial, on terms that we can agree to," said Wahid. He said that the agreement touches various issues, such as the Bumiputera policy, government procurement and state-owned enterprises. "The text will be finalised over the next 30 days or so. After that, it will be made public and it will go for tabling in parliament," he said. AGC SAY NO TO BANK NEGARA's REQUEST AGC: No offence by 1MDB The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) has decided that no offence was committed by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) based on an investigation paper (IP) by Bank Negara and no further action sh...

KHIR TOYO SENTENCED TO A YEAR'S JAIL The sentence has been delivered. Former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo was sentenced to a 12 months' jail for abusing his power while in office to purchase two plots of land ad a bungalow in 2007. Federal Court Judge Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin who delivered the verdict, also upheld the decision of the lower court to forfeit the properties.  Khir Toyo sentenced to a year's jail A five-member panel led by Chief Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin made the ruling together with Justices Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha, Datuk Ramly Ali, Tan Sri Hasan Lah and Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop. The court has also rejected his mitigation to offer free dental services to the poor for three days weekly between one and two years as part of community service in default of jail, as it would not be appropriate. Khir Toyo began his jail term in Kajang Prison on September 29. Zeti: Malaysia bond market will not collapse ZETI: MALAYSI...