Malaysia’s Anwar Set to Follow Fiscal Tightening in New Budget

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim is set to tighten the fiscal screws in his second annual budget since becoming prime minister, as he seeks to reduce public debt by weaning the economy away from decades of blanket subsidies.

Anwar, who doubles as the finance minister, will probably increase spending in the fiscal year starting January to support economic growth, according to most economists surveyed by Bloomberg ahead of Friday’s annual budget presentation. Still, he is likely to target narrowing the fiscal deficit — the gap between revenue and expenditure — to 4.28% of gross domestic product from an estimated 5% this ...