KUCHING: Sarawak collected its highest revenue in its history in 2022, surpassing its initial projection.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state’s actual revenue performance for the financial year 2022 surpassed its projected revenue by 17 per cent from RM10.2 billion to RM11.9 billion.
Prior to the introduction of the State Sales Tax (SST) on oil and gas products, particularly for the financial year 2018, the revenue collected then was RM7.2 billion.
In light of this, the revenue performance for the financial year 2022 saw an increase of 65 per cent compared to that of 2018.
Abang Johari said the state’s revenue comprises four main categories, namely tax revenue, non-tax revenue, non-revenue receipts, and federal grants and reimbursements.
Tax revenue contributed RM6.7 billion or 56 per cent of the total revenue, while the other categories made up 44 per cent.
“Under the tax revenue category, SST contributed 84 per cent or RM5.6 billion of the total tax revenue collected. The taxable products under SST, among others, comprise oil and gas products, palm oil products and aluminium.
“The improved performance in SST collection was due to higher market prices in 2022 for oil and gas products as well as palm oil products,” he told a press conference after chairing the state cabinet meeting at Dewan Sri Sarawak, State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex, today (Feb 2).
At the same time, he said the state government will continue to study and look into various key initiatives to increase Sarawak’s revenue through enhancing, widening, and diversifying its revenue sources.
“In 2022, various initiatives were introduced such as enforcing the state’s dividend policy on statutory bodies and government linked companies (GLCs) and imposing SST on coal.
“These efforts are imperative as the state government continues to vigorously pursue its development agenda and for Sarawak to become a high-income state by 2030, as clearly outlined in the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030),” Abang Johari said.
