Kelantan tables budget for 2023, with higher projected deficit of RM165.31 mil

KOTA BARU – The Kelantan government has tabled its budget for 2023 with a higher projected deficit of RM165.31 million.

Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob when tabling the supply bill themed “Kelantan Maju Rakyat Sejahtera” said the total deficit increased by RM74.81 million compared with this year’s budget of RM90.49 million.

“Although every year the state budget records a deficit, for five consecutive years, the state government has recorded a surplus in actual expenditure.

“The state government’s financial performance is also expected to remain excellent and resilient,” he said when tabling the budget at the Kelantan assembly sitting in Kota Darulnaim, here today.

Ahmad said the 2023 budget would allocate a total of RM1.62 billion to develop the economy in an inclusive manner involving all levels of society, with six core principles – strong and sustainable finance, care for the people, welfare, bringing prosperity to the economy, tourism promotion, and human capital development.

“The 2023 budget shows an increase of RM112.53 million (7.45%) compared with the 2022 budget which only allocated RM1.51 billion.

“The state government proposes that this budget provides an allocation amounting to RM1.15 billion for operating expenditure while a total of RM474.61 million for development expenditure,” he said.

To ensure that the state’s finances remain strong and sustainable, he estimated that the state government would be able to collect RM983.14 million in total revenue.

Elaborating, Ahmad said revenues received from the government agencies remain the largest contributor amounting to RM390.7 million (39.74%) of the total, followed by fixed land revenue with RM356.28 million (36.24%), and other receipts totalling RM91.7 million (9.33%).

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the state’s gross domestic product in 2021 was RM25.8 billion, an increase of 2.4% compared with a negative 1.2% in 2020 at a value of RM25.2 billion.

The assembly sitting will resume on Sunday. – Bernama, November 24, 2022