00:00An aide to Penang Chief Minister Chao Konyao has denied Penang-Gerakan's claim that the state government had 1 billion ringgit in reserves at the end of Barca Nationale's administration in Penang.
00:12Gerakan led Penang between 1969 and 2008 when it was a BN component party, after which it was succeeded by DAP.
00:20Gerakan left BN after the coalition's loss in the 2018 general election.
00:24Speaking at the Penang-Gerakan delegates conference last week, State Chief Oh Tong-Kyong said Penang's reserves had dwindled from 1 billion ringgit when DAP took over in 2008 to around 50 million ringgit now, accusing the state government of unnecessary spending.
00:40Chao's political secretary Lau Kang-Yi today said checks with the finance department found that Penang's consolidated fund stood at RM373.59 million as of December 31, 2007, and only exceeded RM1 billion from 2016 to 2019.
00:57Lau acknowledged the fund declined from RM1.15 billion in 2019 to RM155.94 million at the end of 2024, with RM235.55 million recorded in May this year, citing welfare and education programs as major expenditures.
01:15Chao had previously said he aimed to restore the state's consolidated revenue account to RM1 billion by the end of his tenure in 2028.
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