THE proposed Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Fund would provide long-term resources for investment, and the income from the fund could be used for the social, environmental, and economic development of Sarawak and future generations.
Christopher Gira Sambang (GPS-Tamin) noted that the state government is targeting savings of RM8bil for the first year, while after 20 years, Sarawak would be saving a total of RM52bil.
“This saving will benefit our future generations.
“The state revenue for 2023 projects a total amount of RM11.035bil, of which RM10.797bil is for development expenditure and RM3.997bil is for operating expenditure.
“While the Penang government recently tabled its budget for 2023 with a deficit budget of RM467.12mil for expected revenue of RM522.35mil, the approved budget for 2023 is RM989.47mil.
“That shows Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government under the leadership of the Premier has proven capable of managing the state of Sarawak with expected revenue of RM11.038bil in 2023 and a table budget of RM10.797bil for 2023.”
He said this in support of the Supply Bill (2023) and motion to refer the Resolution of the Development Expenditure Budget for 2023 on the fourth day of the 19th Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) session on Thursday (Nov 24).
He noted that the Budget is a foundation for Sarawak’s future, a financially responsible plan towards achieving economic prosperity with various initiatives introduced.
Investment in infrastructure development, he said, would ensure people have greater access to employment and business opportunities to improve their standard of living.
Under the Longhouse Loan Scheme for longhouses, he added that the opportunity for home ownership is increasing, where it offers an interest-free loan up to RM30,000 per door in the form of building materials to build or repair their units.
The strategic thrust of providing assistance for house rental and repair would also assist the B40 group in repairing their dilapidated houses and improve living conditions, he asserted.
