SIBU: Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh urges Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to disclose the current amount of the State Reserves.
The Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president said that the Finance Minister and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman must also inform Sarawakians of how much money the state is presently owing to other parties as well as the allocation by the state government to the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBoS).
“He (Abang Johari) has to let us know how much is our State Reserves now and how much the Sarawak government owes either in the form of bonds, loans or other commitments.
“The people would want to know how much the state government has given to DBoS and how is DBoS doing in terms of managing the funds because DBoS cannot raise funds from outside, hence, the money must come from the State Reserves,” he said at a press conference here today.
The former state Finance minister and Sibu candidate said that once part of the state’s coffer is allocated to DBoS, it will no longer be in the reserves as the funds with DBoS are chiefly for socio-economic projects such as the construction of roads and bridges which do not serve to generate revenue for the state.
“I hope that in the forthcoming tabling of the State Budget, he (Abang Johari) would give us a detailed explanation on the State Reserves, how much we owe and how much money is given to DBoS and how DBoS is managing the fund,” he said.
He noted that a Chinese newspaper had quoted Abang Johari as saying that the State Budget 2023, which he will table after the 15th general election (GE15), would see the state’s revenue estimates exceeding RM10 billion.
“There is nothing spectacular about the state’s revenue being projected to exceed RM10 billion. The state’s revenue estimates for 2019 already exceeded RM10 billion – at RM10.513 billion. Sarawak also projected to collect revenue of RM10.067 billion for 2020 and RM10.012 for 2021.
“In fact, our revenue estimates exceeded RM10 billion in those three years. Our DUN (State Legislative Assembly) sitting will start on Nov 21, I want to ask the Premier, who is also the Minister of Finance, to tell us the exact financial situation of Sarawak,” he added.
Despite having said that, Wong said credit must be given to Abang Johari who has increased the state’s revenue after the imposition of the five per cent State Sales Tax on petroleum products.
