Observers' verdict? A ho-hum Budget

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA'S 2015 Budget, tabled before Parliament last Friday by Prime Minister Najib Razak, seems to have mostly elicited yawns, even though Putrajaya's assumption about a rise in oil prices drew talk that this could hurt the economy if global prices continue declining.

AmResearch described the Budget as a non-event, an assessment agreed to by, for example, Brian Tan, the economist for South-east Asia for Singapore's Nomura unit.

"It was slightly underwhelming," he said. "The overall revenue estimated from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is far less than we ho…