KUALA LUMPUR – The government will review all procurement processes for projects that have yet to start to control development expenditure, however, priority will be given to projects that provide immediate impact on the well-being of the public, according to the Finance Ministry.
In the Malaysia Treasury Circular – Guidelines on Public Expenditure Savings, the ministry said ministries, departments and federal statutory bodies should continue with the stages of the pre-procurement process that do not have financial implications such as planning, designing, planning permission and settling matters relating to land for the project and others.
Treasury secretary-general Datuk Seri Asri Hamidon said in line with the government’s desire to optimise expenditure for all projects under implementation, the ministries, departments or agencies must closely monitor the project progress to make sure they are completed on time.
Any variation order (VO) that causes additional project cost must be avoided and if necessary based on current procedure, the VO must be covered by using current ceiling savings of the ministries, departments, agencies or federal statutory bodies.
In addition, all expenditures for new asset procurement including purchasing of cars, furniture and other office equipment that are not urgent and not yet ordered or signed should be postponed unless special ministry approvals are given. – Bernama, July 16, 2022
