PUTRAJAYA – The government plans to expedite high-impact projects, especially those which are related to food security, the food value chain, renewable energy, and green technology, in the upcoming revised Budget 2023, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
As his ministry is in charge of planning development spending, Rafizi said the government hoped to maintain a level of spending that would have a multiplier effect on both the country and the public.
“For the Economy Ministry, which is responsible for development projects called development spending, our approach so far is not only to continue all existing projects but we are looking for opportunities to add more projects in important and key sectors,” he told reporters at the launch of OpenDOSM NextGen here today.
Rafizi, however, declined to comment on whether the government would maintain or revise the allocation in the revised 2023 supply bill, as announced previously by then finance minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
Tengku Zafrul tabled a RM372.3 billion budget for 2023, the largest allocation in Malaysia’s history, on October 7, 2022. Three days later, Parliament was dissolved to make way for the 15th general election on November 19.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, is scheduled to table the revised Budget 2023 in Parliament on February 24.
At the event, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said OpenDOSM NextGen, which was launched today, is a continual modernisation and innovation effort by the Statistics Department towards the delivery of effective statistical services.
“Apart from easy and fast access to open data, this platform contains data compiled in a data catalogue and presented in the form of a dashboard to make it easier for users to understand the data available in this platform,” he said. – Bernama, January 12, 2023
