IT is too early to say that Penang does not benefit much from the national 2023 Budget, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.
“The national 2023 Budget tabled by the Finance Minister yesterday (Oct 7) may not have mentioned much about Penang, but it is still too early to say that we do not benefit much from it.
“The national Budget is not only about the speech alone. It is a ‘thick book’ and the speech was just the summary or the highlights of the entire national 2023 Budget,” Chow explained to reporters during a press conference at the opening ceremony of Swift Bridge Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd’s Centre of Excellent at Gat Lebuh Macallum today.
Chow said the state Economic Planning Department (BPEN) would be studying the national 2023 Budget to see what are projects that have been included in it (national 2023 Budget).
“It is still too early for us to react to the national 2023 Budget tabled by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz,” he added.
It was reported that Penang submitted a list of 126 projects, with a total value of RM17.72 billion for them to be considered in the national Budget.
Then, following the request by Zafrul to Penang during his visit in September, the state submitted another list of 23 urgent projects directly to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to be considered in the national Budget. The total value of the 23 urgent projects is about RM14.03 billion. Most of the 23 urgent projects were new, but some might be in the original list of 126 projects.
Chow said that BPEN would have to find out how many projects which the state has applied were included in the national Budget.
“The projects are mainly infrastructure projects.
“They (project allocation) were not mentioned in the speech by the Finance Minister. However, they could be in the national 2023 Budget book.
“Normally, Penang receives between RM900 million and RM1 billion worth of project allocations from the national Budget,” Chow said.
He expressed hope that Penang would be receiving more Federal projects to further improve the state’s infrastructures.
“Other issues, such as relating to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), talent development and incentives, should also be addressed,” he said.
Speaking to reporters at The Salvation Army Penang Children’s Home, he explained that for the national Budget to take effect, it has to be approved in Parliament.
“If it is not approved in Parliament, the Budget cannot be implemented.
“The Budget needs to be debated by the MPs in Dewan Rakyat and approved in totality.
“The process continues in Dewan Negara.
“That is the process that the national Budget has to go through before whatever benefits which are included or promised in the Budget can be implemented,” he said.
He also welcomed the incentives allocated in the national Budget for the B40 and the M40 groups.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter and Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian and Siew Chia En
Video by Siew Chia En