KUCHING: Minister of Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian has lauded the 2022 State Budget.
He described the budget as another people-centric budget by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government.
“There is something for everyone as in previous years in view of the Covid-19, such as the Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) for the people and businesses for the second year in a row,” he said in a Facebook post last night (Oct 12).
He added for the budget, which will incur a deficit of more than RM600 million and during difficult times, expansionary budgeting is required for economic recovery.
“The scope of recovery is not just on infrastructure development but also digital economy, attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI), job creation and human development.
“Funding for capacity and service delivery will really determine success or failure as evidenced from the pandemic crisis. There are no options for us to fail and every reason to succeed,” he said.
He went on to say that the budget continues to be development-biased for the rural and urban areas.
“This is the second year in a row with more than RM10 billion allocated, although the opposition in 2018 predicted that Sarawak will go bankrupt in three years.
“(But) Sarawak had increased the budget from RM6.7 billion to more than RM10 billion per year,” said Dr Sim.
