By Ashley Sim and Karen Bong
KUCHING, Feb 2: Sarawak’s actual revenue performance for the financial year 2022 has surpassed its projected revenue by 17 per cent from RM10.2 billion to RM11.9 billion, the highest revenue performance ever achieved by Sarawak, reveals Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Abang Johari announced this at a press conference held at a hall in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) complex, here today.
“Sarawak’s revenue comprises four main categories, namely tax revenue, non-tax revenue, non-revenue receipts, and federal grants and reimbursements.
“Tax revenue contributed RM6.7 billion or 56 per cent of the total revenue, while the other categories made up 44 per cent. Under the tax revenue category, State Sales Tax (SST) contributed 84 per cent or RM5.6 billion of the total tax revenue collected.
“The taxable products under SST, among others, comprise oil and gas products, oil palm products and aluminum,” he said.
He went on to say the improved performance in SST collection was due to higher market prices in 2022 for oil and gas products and oil palm products.
“Prior to the introduction of SST on oil and gas products, particularly for the financial year 2018, the revenue collected then was at RM7.2 billion.
“Therefore, the revenue performance for the financial year 2022 saw an increase of 65 per cent compared to that of 2018,” he added.
Furthermore, Abang Johari highlighted that the Sarawak government will continue to study and look into various key initiatives to increase Sarawak’s revenue through enhancing, widening, and diversifying its revenue sources.
“In 2022, various initiatives have been introduced such as enforcing the State’s dividend policy on Statutory Bodies and Government Linked Companies, and imposing SST on coal.
“These efforts are imperative as the Sarawak government continues to vigorously pursue its development agenda and for Sarawak to become a high-income economy by 2030 as clearly outlined in the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
