PETALING JAYA: People-centric measures that raise welfare aid and incentives to spur on the economy were among the main features in Budget 2026.
The national budget, which Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tabled on Friday (Oct 10), totalled to RM470bil.
In comparison, it is a 11.6% increase from last year’s national budget of RM421bil.
Budget 2026, the fourth tabled by Anwar as Prime Minister, was themed “Fourth Madani Budget: People’s Budget” (Belanjawan Madani Keempat: Belanjawan Rakyat).
Here’s a look at the national budgets over the years:
Measures announced in the latest budget include the RM100 aid each for 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above, increasing the development allocation for Sabah and Sarawak and added contributions to worker’s savings.
The lion’s share of the budget
The biggest allocation in Budget 2026 will be set aside for the Education Ministry.
The ministry will receive RM66.2bil, an increase of 3.3% from last year’s RM64.1bil.
Coming in at second is the Finance Ministry, which will be allocated RM47bil, followed by the Health Ministry, which will be given RM46.5bil.
More or less?
The ministry which saw the biggest spike in allocation was the Education Ministry – there was a RM2.1bil increase from Budget 2025.
The Home Affairs Ministry is second with a RM1.7bil increase in funds, followed by the Health Ministry which gained RM1.2bil in Budget 2026.
Here’s a closer look at the changes in each ministry’s budget:
