S’wak tables surplus budget
State expecting record revenue, set to invest in development
KUCHING: Sarawak has tabled a surplus budget for 2023 based on a record-high revenue projection.
Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg (pic) said the state was poised to earn Rm11.035bil next year, the highest ever revenue for Sarawak.
With expenditure totalling Rm10.797bil next year, he said the state budget would generate a surplus of Rm238mil.
“It will continue to be an expansionary budget that invests heavily in infrastructure and places the people as its centrepiece,” he said when tabling the budget in the Sarawak legislative assembly yesterday.
Abang Johari said tax revenue totalling Rm5.246bil was projected to account for 48% of total expected revenue next year, including Rm3.2bil from the state sales tax on petroleum products.
He said non-tax revenue was estimated at Rm5.498bil, including Rm2.335bil from cash compensation in lieu of oil and gas rights.
He said Rm3.997bil would be allocated for operating expenditure while Rm7.506bil was proposed for development expenditure under the state budget.
Major allocations include Rm1.12bil to enhance infrastructure development such as roads and bridges, ports and riverine infrastructure mainly in rural areas; Rm420mil for rural transformation programmes; Rm500mil for people-centric projects; and Rm900mil for the Sarawak water supply grid programme.
Abang Johari called for at least 10% of the annual national development budget to be allocated to Sarawak, saying the allocation of Rm5.4bil announced in the recent tabling of Budget 2023 was insufficient.
“This amount represents only 5.7% of the total federal development budget of Rm95bil for 2023 and is obviously far from enough to meet the development needs and address the imbalances between Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
Abang Johari reiterated that the state government would continue to fight for Sarawak’s rights, including more autonomy, under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
He said Malaysia’s federal system was not a one-sided affair but depended on the fulfilment of obligations by the signatory states to each other.
“For the sake of national unity and future of this Federation, I urge the new Federal Government to listen to the voices of Sarawakians who have given a resounding mandate to the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government.
“For us to maintain cohesion and harmony and to build a better future for all our citizens, it is crucial that the federal system be strengthened,” he said.