GEORGE TOWN(Malaysia): Lower fuel prices and electricity tariffs, and lower interest rates for loans are what the man in the street here hopes to see in Budget 2009.

Sales manager Catherine Ooi, 26, hopes that the price of things in general will go down, and feels that a drop in fuel prices may bring about the effect.

"The recent increase in fuel prices caused everything to go up except our salaries, with the exception of certain companies,"said Ooi, adding that it was difficult for the average wage earner to make ends meet.

"We all have commitments and loans to pay" for the house, car and credit cards.

"Take my family for example. There are three of us - my nine-year-old brother, our mother and me. Our mother works as a hawker and is not earning enough. She is still surviving, times are not so bad yet, but I feel a responsibility to help out wherever I can," she said.

Ooi said that even with lower fuel prices, it did not mean that the price of other things would go down as well, and hoped that prices would be adjusted to help the people.

Her boyfriend, engineer Eugene Ooi, 27, said he was hoping for lower interest rates for loans. ?Besides, with lower housing loan interest, more people can afford homes.?

Bank employee Mohamed Idris Yusop, 34, and his wife Hasila Daud, 32, also hope for lower fuel prices and the price of things in general to be adjusted accordingly.

"When the fuel prices went up, so did the price of everything else gradually," they said.

The couple, who have a son in Year One and a four-year-old daughter, added that the cost of raising children and ensuring they had a good education was high.

Factory superintendent M. Raj, 41, also wants fuel prices to be lowered and lower tariffs for electricity.

"Those at the higher income level do not feel the pinch but those of us who are, for example, working in factories, are all experiencing it," he said.

Raj said the Government should allocate money to the people, regardless of race or religion, rather than to development: ?Help the people, let them stabilise, and then only think about other development."

"Every time the Budget is out, we hear that it is people-friendly. Whether we have a people-friendly Budget 2009 or otherwise depends on whether it can enhance a better future for every Malaysian. It should be a Budget that takes care of the people."

Raj said he would also like to see more benefits for senior citizens, and allocations for the improvement of the transport system.

Production manager P. Manimaran, 43, said the Government should first focus on infrastructure and development would then follow.

"You can have all kinds of mega projects but the people in the country really feel the pinch. Spend more to pacify the people and this will bring about a spiral effect," he said.