THE Supply Bill (2023) and the Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund Board Bill (2022) are in the best interest of all Sarawakians, ensuring a stable and secure future for them, says Azizul Annuar Adenan (GPS-Tanjong Datu).
He commended the Premier for the forward-looking budget, which proves that the state government meant business and took good care of Sarawakians of all ages.
As such, he said the initiatives under the said Bills were a continuation of developing rural areas to ensure no one was left behind.
“It is worth noting that under the stated development expenditure in this Bill, the state government will be allocating 60 per cent of the RM7.506bil, which amounts to RM4.540bil, for development in rural areas.
“Meanwhile, Sarawak as a state that is producing and exporting non-renewable commodities such as petroleum, gas, and others, the challenge is to transform such resources into a stable and sustainable future income.
“Quoting from an article from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ‘Placing commodity revenue in a sovereign wealth fund is a means to avoid boom-bust cycles, such as those experienced during the 1970s, by accumulating adequate international assets’.”
Azizul said this in support of the Supply Bill (2023) on the fifth day of the 19th Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) session on Friday (Nov 25).
Moreover, he added, a well-managed and effective sovereign wealth fund could help protect the economy’s non-commodity sectors from destabilising currency fluctuations while helping to spread the country’s wealth more equitably across generations.
He pointed out that it also targeted the development of a broader or wider base for economic growth.
Developing an efficient and diversified economy reduced the impact of commodity price volatility, he added, and would also able to prepare the economy for a post-commodity era as most commodity reserves around the world were depleting.
