Lim: Previous govt used up RM11.41bil from January to April

PETALING JAYA: The Government’s Consolidated Revenue Account registered a depletion of 96% or RM11.41bil from January to April this year, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He said it was clear that excessive spending by the previous Barisan Nasional administration was carried out in the months preceding the 14th General Election.

“This has not been an easy five months since May 9. Despite being left with only RM450mil by the previous government, the new Pakatan Harapan government is still able to meet all monthly financial commitments, especially paying the monthly RM8bil in salaries and pensions of civil servants, including bonuses,” he said in a statement.

The breakdown of the figures provided by Lim showed that the Consolidated Revenue Account dropped from RM11.86bil in December to RM5.73bil in January and the downtrend continued in February (RM5.34bil), March (RM3.91bil) and April (RM450mil).

Lim said Accountant General Datuk Saat Esa confirmed that only funds in the Consolidated Revenue Account could be spent on government expenditure and not from the Consolidated Fund.

“Datuk Saat also confirmed that there was only RM450mil left on April 30.

“There are those who claim otherwise, citing the funds in the Cash Account as proof that Barisan left Pakatan with billions of ringgit.

“This is unfortunately not true. Not all monies in the Cash Account can be used for government expenditure,” said Lim, adding that the Cash Account and the Investment Account both formed a common pool of cash collected, deposited or invested and held for three separate accounts – Consolidated Revenue Account, Consolidated Loan Account and Consolidated Trust Account.

He explained that the amount in the Cash Account and Investment Account cannot be spent entirely for government expenditure because they do not belong to the Consolidated Revenue Account entirely.