Annual special grants for Sabah, Sarawak increased to RM300 million
Published on: Friday, April 05, 2024
Kuala Lumpur: The Government, through the National Finance Council (NFC), has agreed to improve grants and financial support for each state amounting to RM8.9 billion this year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said this was decided during the NFC meeting he chaired Thursday.
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The meeting was also attended by all Menteri Besar and Chief Ministers.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the Federal Government is committed to collaborating with all state governments to advance comprehensive national development.
“Based on the principles of humanity and ‘rahmatan lil alamin’, which form the Madani Economy framework, enhancing grants to state governments can directly benefit all Malaysians regardless of ethnicity, religion or geography,” he said. Anwar said the increase in grants involves all states and will be provided simultaneously.
“As such, I hope the state governments can fully utilise this grant to guarantee the welfare of the people and promote the development of the State more sustainably,” said the Prime Minister.
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According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the allocation for 2024 was an increase compared to RM8.3 billion last year and RM8.1 billion in 2022.
The Ministry said the increase comprised state road maintenance grants of RM5.4 billion, grants based on the Economic, Infrastructure and Welfare Development-Based Grants (TAHAP) of RM400 million, and ecological fiscal transfer grants (RM200 million).
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MoF said the additional annual special grants to Sarawak and Sabah were significantly increased to RM300 million each, compared to RM16 million for Sarawak and RM129.7 million for Sabah last year. State libraries and museums grants were also raised by 10 per cent this year, it said.
“As for development expenditure, as much as RM39.4 billion is provided for this year to carry out state development projects, compared to RM36.7 billion in 2023 and RM28.8 billion in 2022.
“The State Government’s application concerning readiness to address any emergency or natural disaster such as floods and landslides which may cause damage to roads and bridges was also approved,” said the Ministry.
In this regard, MoF said the NFC approved the purchase of the temporary Bailey Bridges using the one-off state road maintenance grant for this year and increased the limit to fund expenses related to state road maintenance by 10 per cent or RM10 million, whichever is lower.
Hence, it said the Madani government remains committed to maintaining a good relationship between the Federal Government and all state governments for the benefit of all Malaysians, as expressed through the higher Federal Government grants and the allocation of development expenditure in all states for 2023 and 2024.
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