PETALING JAYA: TA Research expects both retail and food and beverage (F&B) players in the consumer sector to be major beneficiaries of Budget 2024.

The research house said the upcoming budget is poised to strike a balance between fiscal responsibility and the pursuit of inclusive economic growth that will lead to positive prospects in the consumer space.

“We anticipate that the new government administration will take proactive steps to recalibrate certain subsidies as the nation transitions into an endemic phase,” said TA Research in its latest report yesterday.

Under Budget 2024, the research house expects subsidy rationalisation will see further reduction to an estimated RM40bil compared with RM58.6bil in the revised Budget 2023.

“This reduction in subsidies is unlikely to have a substantial impact on affluent households, as the expected increase in expenditure for the T20 group is relatively modest compared to their overall income,” it added.

TA Research also envisaged the government’s cash assistance programme is set to undergo a reduction of RM1bil, reaching an estimated RM7bil in 2024, reflecting the nation’s progress beyond the pandemic phase.

Additionally, eligibility criteria for these cash aids will be assessed through the implementation of a new Padu system, intended to act as a central data hub, aggregating information from over 270 government agencies, it pointed out.

Meanwhile, the government is also expected to introduce a new progressive wage model (PWM) alongside the existing minimum wage policy, TA Research said.

Notably, the minimum wage policy was initially instituted in 2013, starting at RM900 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak, before incrementally rising and standardised to RM1,500 as of May 2022 across the entire country.

Furthermore, the market is speculating the possibility of another minimum wage increase to RM1,800 prior to the implementation of the PWM.