MIDA chairman and former Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the 3.3% fiscal deficit target is achievable given the improvement from 5.5% in 2022, provided global geopolitical conditions and oil price assumptions underpinning the budget hold. This matters for investor confidence signalling specifically: he pointed to planned capital expenditure by Khazanah Nasional, EPF and Petronas as a deliberate signal to foreign investors, arguing that visible domestic institutional investment makes Malaysia a more credible destination for external capital. Foreign investors, GLC-linked supply chains and businesses tracking sovereign fiscal credibility may be affected, with the target’s achievability still contingent on external conditions, particularly oil prices and geopolitical developments, holding as assumed.

 

To read more, please click here.