Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who doubles as finance minister, will table Budget 2027 in Kuala Lumpur on October 9. The government frames the budget as an effort to keep growth going while protecting households from the fallout of subsidy reforms and rising costs. Subsidy rationalisation has been a signature policy of Anwar's administration, replacing broad price supports with targeted assistance for lower-income groups. That shift has drawn complaints as prices for fuel and other goods move closer to market rates. The budget is expected to spell out allocations for welfare and development programmes, plus the revenue measures needed to pay for them. Anwar has to balance fiscal discipline against the relief that strained households need. How he manages that trade-off in the coming year will shape perceptions of the wider reform agenda.