By Karen Bong
KUCHING, May 24: Sarawak has collected a revenue of RM5.004 billion as of April this year or 45 per cent of the projected revenue of RM11.035 billion contributed through various sources including State Sales Tax (SST), dividends, forestry receipts and land premium, among others.
Second Minister of Finance and New Economy Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas informed that SST contributed RM1.906 billion, followed by cash compensation in lieu of oil and gas rights of RM1.621 billion.
The other sources include dividends (RM751 million); raw water royalty (RM171 million); interest income (RM258 million); forestry receipts (RM103 million); land premium (RM43 million); Federal grants and reimbursement (RM24 million) and other sources such as mining royalties, water sales and land rents (RM127 million).
“As of April 30 this year, Sarawak has spent RM1.241 billion or 31 per cent of its approved Ordinary Expenditure, while a sum of RM845 million or 11 per cent has been expended for its Development Expenditure.
“In this respect, I urge all Controlling Officers and Heads of Departments to continue their commitment to ensuring the successful execution of projects under their purview, as well as ensuring projects are delivered on schedule and within budget, and the targeted projects’ outcomes are met,” he said when delivering his winding-up speech at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting here today.
Reporting on Sarawak’s financial performance in 2022, the Deputy Premier explained that Sarawak recorded a total revenue of RM11.910 billion and generated a surplus of over RM1 billion to the State.
The revenue was mainly contributed by the collection of SST due to higher market prices of oil and gas products as well as oil palm products. As of April 2023, the SST on oil and gas products has contributed a total sum of RM13.37 billion to the State coffer since its introduction on Jan 1, 2019.
“The total Ordinary Expenditure in 2022 was RM10.796 billion, of which RM4.196 billion was expended on operating expenditure while RM6.600 billion was appropriated to the Development Funds Account to meet expenditure for the implementation of various development programmes and projects.
“With regards to development expenditure, Sarawak has expended a sum of RM6.263 billion or 82.3 per cent of the total Development Budget for the year 2022,” he added. — DayakDaily
