Najib’s Fiscal Pledge Faces Test in 2014 Budget: Southeast Asia
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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s promise of measures to curb the budget gap and avert a credit-rating downgrade helped send three-year government bond yields to a four-month low. His resolve is about to be tested.
Najib, also finance minister, will deliver his 2014 budget speech to parliament on Oct. 25 after cementing his leadership in a May general election. Having given handouts to the poor and pay increases for civil servants to woo voters earlier, he may now introduce a potentially unpopular consumption tax, delay projects and raise the levy on property gains, according to United Overseas Bank Ltd. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd.