by Jonathan Chia, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on August 30, 2013, Friday
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| HIGH SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM: Ahmad Husni (third left) together with (from left) Yahaya, Morshidi, Nozirah and Jabidah waving the Jalur Gemilang as they sing a patriotic song. — Photo by Edmund Chang |
KUCHING: The federal government will put infrastructure development of the state as its top priority in Budget 2014.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said this is because the matter was brought up many times during the budget consultation held in the state.
“As for Sarawak, we will give priority to infrastructure needs because they were raised many times (during the budget consultation held in Sarawak). We will also be looking at other things as well,” he told reporters after launching Finance Ministry Open Day 2013 at state Royal Malaysian Customs Department Academy here yesterday.
Among those present were state secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Abdul Ghani, state federal secretary Datuk
Md Yahaya Basimin, deputychief treasury secretary (Management) Datuk Nozirah Bahari and federal state financial officer Datu Jabidah Monseri.
Ahmad Husni stated that in total, the Finance Ministry had received 100 memoranda during the budget consultations held throughout the country and the ministry is currently in the process of finalising all of them.
“We have 15 focus groups and we still have a few more which are not completed. One of the important focus groups that have yet to be completed is the Happiness Index which the government introduced this year.
“By the middle of September, we will complete our draft on the type of Budget for the coming year.”
On Goods and Services Tax (GST), Ahmad Husni said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also finance
minister, will make the announcement on whether it will be implemented.
“If GST is implemented and if there is price increase, the government will ensure that target groups such as those receiving Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia will not be affected.”
He said the ministry, through its treasury lab, is conducting detailed study on the effect of GST on the economy, especially to the Consumer Price Index.
“We will look into the effect of GST on prices and households when it is implemented. We want to know when there is price increase, how high will it be.
“We also want to know how it will affect the people because at the end of the day, the people’s wellbeing is the priority of the government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. That is why this year we have Happiness Index as one of the focus groups.”
Besides conducting study on GST, Ahmad Husni said the treasury lab is also tasked with studying the country’s economy.
“The outlook of the world economy now is very dim and we don’t know when the situation will recover. It can affect our country’s economy, especially export which had started to slow down since end of last year.”
Despite the slowdown in the world economy, the country’s economy remains strong compared to other world economies, he said, adding that the nation needs to ensure that the domestic economy is strong.
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