Saturday 15 November 2008

Sabah 2009 Budget

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, who is also Finance Minister, tabled in the State Legislative Assembly the Sabah 2009 Budget Friday. Elected representatives will begin debate on the budget Monday before the winding-up by ministers on Thursday.

The Sabah 2009 Budget

The Sabah state government has allocated RM2.778 billion for Budget 2009, up by RM477.66 million or 20.76 percent from the current budget.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also the state Finance Minister, in presenting the budget at the Sabah Legislative Assembly, said the budget was the highest and biggest presented so far.

The strategies for Budget 2009, among others, are to continue efforts towards strengthening the state financial position through efficient financial management, raising efficiency of the public sector delivery, improving productivity and intensifying socio-economic development.

Estimated state expenditure for development in 2009 amounted to RM1.04 billion, higher by RM56.25 million or 5.71 percent compared to this year’s expenditure of RM984.23 million.

“Besides the state allocation, there are also allocation sources from the federal government amounting to RM435 million. With this, the total allocation for Sabah will be RM1.475 billion,” Musa said.

Revenue for the state in 2009 is estimated at RM2.57 billion, down by 11.23 percent compared to this year with crude palm oil (CPO) prices and forestry revenue expected to be lower next year.

For 2008, based on the revenue gained so far, the state is expected to achieve RM3 billion by end of this year, Musa said.He said the state’s economic growth is projected at 5.0 percent for this year and 4.50 percent next year due to external factors like the global financial crisis, high fuel prices and rising inflation.

Musa said despite the global economic uncertainties, private sector investment remained stable as shown by the 7.30 percent increase in loans by commercial banks to various sectors in the first six months of this year totalling RM26.60 billion.

He said though the private sector was cautious as a result of the global scenario, the recent four-day Sabah International Expo 2008 saw an eight-fold increase in business transactions totalling RM142.7 million compared to RM18.1 million in 2006.

“This showed that the confidence of investors as well as local and foreign businessmen in Sabah is high,” he added.Bernama

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