Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah called for sustainable spending and outlined fiscal consolidation programmes, including public-private partnerships (PPP) and corporatisation to address budget deficit, during the 20th session of the Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting yesterday.
The minister was responding to a query by LegCo member Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Haji Mohd Yusof, on the ongoing budget deficit.
According to the minister, the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) has taken steps to improve governance, financial reporting and digital adoption among cooperatives to encourage diversification of activities, digitalisation and participation in priority sectors that are aligned with the national economic blueprint. Currently, there are 160 cooperatives in Brunei with a total membership of 33,000, share capital of BND36.3 million and assets nearing BND69 million. The discussion also highlighted the success of companies in expos, such as those organised by the Brunei Economic Development Board and Darussalam Enterprise (DARe), with the minister noting the active support of the MoFE of expos through direct involvement. – Fadley Faisal
