PM's second contracting budget falls below 2014 level

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Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today unveiled Budget 2017 in Parliament, his second continuous contracting budget.

He announced a total budget of RM260.8 billion, RM214.8 billion of which would go to operations expenditure and RM46.0 billion for development expenditure.

This is Najib's first budget speech which excludes the customary RM2 billion contingency fund.

Even if included, the sum of RM262.8 billion still falls to levels below Budget 2014, which had an allocation of RM264.2 billion, including the contingency fund.

Malaysiakini puts Budget 2017 in historical context, comparing it to seven other budgets Najib has presented since his first in 2010.

We also compare what Putrajaya announced would be spent during past budgets and how much was actually spent.

The situation has been challenging for Malaysia as the budget had continued to shrink since 2015 amid a slump in global crude oil prices, which has impacted the country's revenue.