James Kon
Legislative Council (LegCo) members yesterday morning unanimously approved the Ministry of Finance and Economy’s (MoFE) proposed budget allocation of BND1,011,516,668 during the 18th Legislative Council session.
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 outlined the major expenditure of the MoFE budget during the deliberation of the proposed budget.
Firstly, the ministry’s staff salary amounting to BND68,864,090, an increase of about BND1.47 million from the financial year 2021/2022. The increase is due to the actual estimation of salary and allowance for job positions that have been filled, the transfer of four positions from Print Plus and preparations for assimilating posts of 76 Open Vote and 4 Daily Pay.
Recurring expenses amounting to BND931,281,030 is an increase of as much as BND86,309,621 from the budget for the financial year 2021/2022.
Among the miscellaneous services allocated with BND790.8 million fund include security and defence at BND121.8 million; medical services at BND30 million; addressing infectious disease outbreaks including the purchase of COVID-19 vaccine amounting to BND124.5 million; expenditure in addressing natural disasters such as implementing long-term protection works for landslides and floods amounted to BND15 million; public safety amounting to BND3.2 million; information technology project amounting to BND12.4 million; Temburong District’s development amounting to BND6.7 million; and assistance programme for students under the Miftaahun Najaah Scheme from underprivileged family and in-kind assistance such as school uniforms, workbooks, stationeries and school fees amounting BND1.5 million.
Meanwhile, under the development expenditure category, the minister said, “A total of BND 11,371,548 was allocated for the project amounting to BND295,223,991 to fund projects such as the study on science, technology and innovation; census and socio-economic studies; and government human resource management systems.”
Since budget priorities including the MoFE achievements during the financial year 2021/2022 has already been highlighted, Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew reiterated, “The ministry will remain committed in implementing and supporting efforts that contribute to the economic development of the country through a whole-of-government approach, involvement of GLCs and statutory bodies and foreign direct investment (FDI).”
