“He (Lim) is no longer in the opposition and therefore, he shouldn’t sound like one. He is a government minister,” — Masing
KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing has lambasted federal Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng for telling the world, inaccurately, that Sarawak would go bankrupt in three years.
“Such inaccurate statement will damp investors’ confidence in the state’s economic standing.
“He (Lim) is no longer in the opposition and therefore, he shouldn’t sound like one. He is a government minister,” said Masing.
The deputy chief minister added that Lim was duty bound to build the necessary confidence so that investors would come to Sarawak and invest in it.
During the Democratic Action Party (DAP) fundraising dinner here on Friday night, Lim warned Sarawakians that the state might end up bankrupt in three years’ time under the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) administration.
He said Sarawak’s RM30 billion reserves would run out in three years with its annual budget of RM11 billion.
Masing commented that Lim’s simplistic financial argument on Sarawak financial standing was “an embarrassment for a minister of finance”.
“Sarawak has various sources of income as a tax collector.
“Sarawak has a 5% export duty on its oil and gas products which enables the state to earn an extra revenue of no less than RM3 billion annually besides other tax collections and revenues,” Masing pointed out in the press statement he issued to New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
“Sarawak does not just spend but we also earn at the same time.
“We have to spend more as Putrajaya failed to keep its promises to give us the necessary funding to build our infrastructure,” he said.
Masing added that Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had announced last year and repeatedly said that the state’s revenue for 2019 was expected to reach RM10.51 billion, which included sales tax for petroleum products totalling RM3.84 billion.
Abang Johari had also said Sarawak could increase its sales tax on petroleum products based on its state constitution.
