He claimed the budget tabled last Friday was “misleading and nothing extraordinary”.

Debating the budget proposals in the Dewan Rakyat this morning, Anwar said the views given by opposition MPs to Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz during pre-budget discussions, especially on the loan moratorium and Covid-19 allocation, had been ignored.

He said this showed there was no cooperation from the government.

As much as the opposition wanted to support the budget, he said, there were several issues, such as figures which “have been manipulated so that the budget looks good”.

Due to that, he said, the budget “may not be passed easily”, adding that the finance ministry should review the allocation to fight Covid-19, allocation for frontliners, and measures to stimulate the economy.

To a question by Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) if the economic growth will see a V-curve next year, Anwar said it was not possible as corporate tax will dip because of the business slowdown.

“How will revenue increase if the private sector is weak, companies remain closed, and more Malaysians lose their jobs?” he asked.

He said this will see lower corporate tax collected by the government.

In his budget speech, Tengku Zafrul said the economy was projected to expand between 6% and 7% next year.

However, Anwar said development figures projected in the budget proposals were not realistic and “not responsible”.

He said almost 800,000 Malaysians had lost their jobs because of the movement control order, while others faced pay cuts and loss in allowances.

He urged the government not to indulge in cronyism and to ensure the tendering process was carried out professionally.

Anwar also said the RM17 billion budget for the Covid-19 fund was small compared to the total RM322 billion budget allocation for next year.

He also hoped the PN coalition was not imposing CMCO as an alternative to the proposed emergency which was rejected by the King last month.