KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has tabled a RM5.1 billion surplus state budget for 2023, an increase compared with the RM4.6 billion allocated for this year.
Chief minister Hajiji Noor said the budget was focused on strengthening the state’s economy to ensure continuous and inclusive progress for Sabah and its people.
It was also in line with the state’s economic growth based on the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan, he said.
Hajiji said the state government was proposing an estimated expenditure of RM5.14 billion and revenue collection of RM5.45 billion.
“This is a surplus budget of RM130.47 million,” he said, in tabling the budget at the Sabah state legislative assembly.
“Acknowledging the fact that most of the state’s revenues are commodity-based, which are subject to price fluctuations from market, economic and global geopolitical conditions, a conservative approach is maintained in preparing the 2023 revenue estimates to ensure the state’s financial position continues to be strengthened.”
Hajiji said tax revenue would make up the bulk of revenue collection next year with 45.6% or RM2.4 billion, with RM2.27 billion in state sales tax (SST) expected to be the biggest contributor.
Non-tax revenue, he said, was expected to contribute RM2.31 billion, or 43.8%, adding that the state also expected to receive RM553.17 million in the non-revenue receipts category.
Non-tax revenue includes petroleum royalties of RM1.35 billion and sales of water and land premium, among others, while the main contributor to non-tax receipts are the federal government grants, estimated to be RM528.87 million.
He said the state government was intensifying efforts to generate more sources of revenue. This includes recovering arrears and dealing with revenue leakages, wider implementation of the SST, and intensifying the enforcement of dividend collection on government-linked companies (GLCs) and statutory bodies.
Hajiji said the state was grateful that the 2022 revised revenue estimates were expected to be 27.2% higher compared with the original revenue estimate of RM4.7 billion.
“This means that 2022 will create history for Sabah, with the highest ever state revenue estimates, totalling RM5.99 billion,” he said, adding that this was thanks to the rise in commodity prices.
For next year’s supply expenditure, Hajiji said the government was proposing RM788.94 million for development expenditure, plus RM604.67 million from the federal government, for a total of RM1.393 billion. This is aside from spending on emoluments, as well as recurring and special expenditures.
“Although the national budget has not been debated and approved, the state government is required to project an estimation of RM604.67 million to ensure the continuation of current projects funded by the federal government for the year 2023.”
Hajiji also announced that Sabah has received RM11.9 billion in foreign investments and RM942 million in domestic investments in the manufacturing and services sectors.
“This has made Sabah the third highest investment recipient in Malaysia during the second quarter of 2022,” he said.
This includes RM6.2 billion worth of foreign investments from China and South Korea which will provide more than 9,000 jobs during the construction phase of these investments and 2,500 jobs once they are fully operational next year.
For rural development, Hajiji said the government would set aside RM212.63 million for poverty eradication programmes. The state had also approved a half-month salary bonus for civil servants, ranging from RM1,000 to RM20,271.
This will be paid in January and involves all state civil servants, including temporary, contract and daily wage workers.
In addition, a special aid of RM500 for Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Kaamatan, or harvest festival, will be paid to civil servants in April 2023.
The state assembly will sit from Nov 28 to Dec 1 to debate the budget.