State government clarifies it has enough money to repay federal loans
KUCHING: The Sarawak government has sufficient allocation in its annual budget for repayment of federal loans, which amounted to RM2.38 billion as at Dec 31, 2018.
Responding to a statement made by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Sunday with regard to the state’s outstanding loans with the federal government, the state government said federal loans were paid on time based on repayment schedules as stipulated in the agreement between the state and federal governments.
“In fact, Sarawak is one of the states which has no outstanding/arrears in loan repayment…this has been reported by the Auditor-General in its annual report and presented to the Majlis Kewangan Negara,” the state government clarified in a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office here yesterday.
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It said in the case of Sarawak, the federal loans were obtained to finance the implementation of various projects under the Concurrent List which include water supplies, sewerage, industrial estates, housing and agriculture, mainly oil palm plantation which involves smallholders.
“It is a normal procedure as provided for in the Federal Constitution for the states in Malaysia to seek for federal funding whether in the form of grant or loan.
“The form of funding, whether in the form of grant or loan, would be based on the nature of the projects i.e. as to whether the projects would generate revenues in the future (commercial value),” added the statement.
