Kota Kinabalu: Merotai Assemblyman Sarifuddin Hata said the State Government’s financial management has raised concern over its budgeting process efficiency and transparency.
“Increasing the supplementary budgets year after year indicate inefficient financial management by the Government,” he said when debating the Supplementary Budget Bill at the State Legislative sitting, here, Tuesday.
He urged the Government to heed the recommendations of the Auditor-General’s report and implement more stringent financial planning and control measures to ensure the State’s fiscal health and sustainability.
“The supplementary budget has increased by 16.5 per cent compared to the original budget this year, amounting to RM1 billion,” said Sarifuddin, expressing uncertainty whether to welcome the additional funds or be alarmed by what he perceives as potential mismanagement.
A key point of contention in his debate was the extensive use of AP54 (Treasury Instruction No. 54) for personal advance accounts.
“Most of what I see here is AP54, regarding personal advance accounts. This means any Ministry can use this advance account, which was not included in the budget we approved in the previous session last year,” he said.
He called for a clear mechanism to request supplementary budgets and questioned the ceiling for AP54 usage.
“There is a need for adherence to treasury terms and conditions. There’s nothing wrong with using AP54, but it must follow treasury terms and conditions,” he said.
Sarifuddin also raised concerns about the realism of the 2024 budget presented earlier.
He cited the Auditor- General’s report, which recommended planning realistic annual budgets taking into account all existing needs and commitments to reduce payments through personal advance accounts.
He requested answers from the Government, namely on the methods used to reach the RM1 billion supplementary budget, what percentage is allowed in financial guidelines for additional spending each year, what is the ceiling set for the use of personal advance accounts or AP54, what is the actual State revenue based on the financial statement ending June 2024 and how much surplus is being requested for approval today.
“I am certain that if the supplementary budget is approved, the government will experience a deficit expenditure at the end of the year if the results we obtain later, which we expect, which we estimate, do not achieve what we want and are less than the value of expenditure we will spend,” he said.
He called for the 2025 budget to be more realistic and consider all aspects of spending.
“We don’t want subsequent budgets for 2025 to be just for popularity. For everyone to think that this is the best government because of its surplus, that there is an excess of RM100 million, RM200 million, RM300 million.
“But at the end of the day, come June and July, we (assemblymen and women) are called to come to the State Legislative Assembly to approve another supplementary budget,” he said.
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