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KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan may not support Perikatan Nasional’s 2021 Budget in Parliament if the concerns of its lawmakers are not addressed, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim warned.
“As I mentioned earlier about the EPF and the bank loan moratorium, these are serious questions. If you want us to consider passing the Budget, you will need to prioritize these issues. Otherwise, the budget will not be approved.
“I want to hear the responses of the Minister of Finance as a minister, but not as a banker,” he said during his speech while debating the 2021 budget in Parliament on Monday (November 9).
Anwar said opposition leaders were willing to support Budget 2021, but argued that certain changes were necessary.
He also reminded Dewan Rakyat of the King’s decree calling for unity and cooperation among lawmakers to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We want to approve this Budget quickly so as not to overwhelm the public, those on the front lines or public officials; don’t assume it will be that easy.
“The Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister should know that the Budget, in its current form, which will impact the public, will not be approved so easily. So, I ask the Minister of Finance to study all the proposals to manage the problems related to Covid-19, “he said.
Among the proposals that the government should reconsider, Anwar said, is the transfer of RM19bil allocated as capital expenditure in the 2021 budget to the Covid-19 fund.
“This is central because everyone knows, including the Royal Decree, that it is a Covid-19 Budget, which needs to solve the problems faced by the rakyat,” he added.
He also criticized the allocation of RM85mil to the Department of Special Affairs (Jasa), describing it as an allocation to create propaganda and should instead be transferred to the Covid-19 fund.
He also questioned why a one-time grant of RM8.6 thousand was channeled to the NGO Penggerak Komuniti Negara, which is under the purview of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
“President, this is unprecedented. A one-time grant to Penggerak Komuniti Negara without any details? But just to make sure the needs of the minister and her respective political circles are met? he said.
Anwar also asked Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz to review projected government revenue and economic growth for 2021 as mentioned in the 2021 Budget.
“Where did the Finance Minister get such a high and good forecast? Is it to satisfy certain political appetites to ensure that we can achieve such secure growth?
“The forecasts may not be accurate, I understand that and there are usually errors, but the forecasts must be realistic.”
During the presentation of the Budget 2021 last Friday (November 6), Tengku Zafrul said that the economy is projected to recover with growth of between 6.5% and 7.5% next year.
However, Anwar disputed this, saying the World Bank’s best economic outlook growth projection would be 5.35% on average.
He also questioned why the RM3bil allocation for Covid-19 vaccines, which was touted by Science and Technology Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, was not included in the 2021 Budget.
He said the government must be more transparent on the matter.
“I am concerned because it seems that there is manipulation of figures in the Budget,” he alleged.
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