Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has fired a salvo at the Pakatan Harapan government ahead of its unveiling of Budget 2019.

Taking to Twitter, the former deputy premier said all quarters are waiting with “bated breath and hope” for the new government's inaugural fiscal plan.

“The question is, can the budget be trusted when the manifesto (promises) could not be delivered. The people are watching,” he added.

Meanwhile, former premier Najib Abdul Razak noted how Harapan's alternative budget for 2018 contained numerous promises although the projected deficit was only 2%, which was lower than BN's budget.

“Let us see if Harapan's Budget 2019 has similarities with their budget last year or otherwise,” he added in a Facebook posting.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is scheduled to table the budget at the Dewan Rakyat at 4pm, the first by a new government since the nation's independence in 1957.

While expectations are high, this could turn out to be one of the toughest budgets amid a list of alleged misappropriations, dubious spending and a ballooning unjustifiable debt left behind by the BN-led government, making the fiscal balance sheet almost beyond fix.

Yesterday, BN presented its "People's Economy Initiative" document with eight strategies that it claimed could boost the country's total revenue to RM247 billion next year.

The coalition's shadow finance minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the additional income would be generated through the reintroduction of GST at a lower rate of three percent, as well as the introduction of several new taxes.

In his presentation, the Rembau MP also tabled BN's proposals for ways to spend the additional revenue which he said was a continuation of policies from the coalition's 14th general election manifesto as well as from initiatives under its previous budgets tabled when it was the federal government.