00:00The Treasury has ordered government ministries and agencies to cut their operating expenditures due to the impact of the Middle
00:07East conflict.
00:09In a directive issued today, Finance Ministry Secretary General Johan Mahmoud Merikan said the National Budget Office had been asked
00:17to review the remaining estimated expenditures under the 2026 budget.
00:21Johan said the approved 2026 budget only allocated RM15 billion for subsidies, a massive reduction from previous years given that
00:31fuel subsidies alone reached RM38 billion in 2023.
00:36However, he said Pooja Jaya's total subsidy bill was now expected to balloon to RM58.4 billion for the whole
00:43year due to the chain reaction triggered by the Iran war and the ensuing global energy crisis.
00:49He said all ministries, departments and agencies were to review their remaining operational expenditures for the year in order to
00:58save costs.
00:59The proposed cuts include salaries and allowances for unfilled vacancies, a 10% reduction on services, supplies and assets, as
01:09well as a 20% cut on budgets for federal statutory bodies and companies limited by guarantees.
01:15All ministries, departments and agencies have been given until May 15th to submit their proposed budget reviews to the National
01:23Budget Office.
01:24Naramtha Raja, FMT.
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