| Azlan Othman |
MINISTER of Finance II YB Dato Seri Paduka Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah yesterday said at the 14th Legislative Council (LegCo) session that it is crucial for the nation to achieve rapid economic diversification and widen its non-oil and gas revenue to a very satisfying level to achieve a balanced fiscal.
The minister said this in response to LegCo member YB Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abdul Rahman’s query on the possibility of having the nation achieve zero budget deficit.
“To achieve a zero deficit without relying on oil and gas revenue is not a matter that can be attained in a straight forward manner,” the minister said.
“The possibility to score zero budget deficits is a positive achievement dreamed by nations globally. Some nations have fiscal policy tools to assist in balancing their respective fiscals, especially for countries with no natural resources,” he said.
“The economy for Brunei Darussalam is different from that of others as we are heavily dependent on oil and gas at present. In this respect, we should understand the fiscal and monetary policy that can be used, and at the same time, to think about the implication of such policy when implemented,” he explained.
The minister said gross domestic product (GDP) growth is not positively correlated with fiscal position.
For instance, the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), Prime Minister’s Office forecast economic growth of 0.8 per cent for 2017, which is a positive growth since 2013. However, in reality, the nation is still facing deficit despite the development in GDP growth.
Last Wednesday, it was revealed that Brunei’s budgetary spending for the financial year 2018-2019 will stand at $5.3 billion.
This projection takes into account revenue from the oil and gas sector amounting to $2.84 billion, and non-oil and gas contributed $921.5 million. Hence, the nation’s spending continues to experience a deficit amounting to $1.54 billion for the fiscal year 2018-2019.
Meanwhile, YB Siti Rozaimeriyanty queried on ways to control ministerial expenditure so as to not exceed the provision of approved budget allocation, and towards prudent spending.
In response, he said that every ministry must ensure that spending is based on priorities and not merely things that are ‘nice to have’. It should also be in accordance with the regulations. In this respect, every spending must be accompanied with purchase order and not solely by issuing tender.
This is to ensure that claims can be paid to suppliers according to the Client’s Charter. The performance budgeting programme (introduced since fiscal year 2016-2017) is to ensure that every ministry has a spending plan for the years to come by prioritising outcome based on key performance indicators.
“The Ministry of Finance has set up a committee to plan for surcharge, chaired by the Permanent Secretaries at the Ministry of Finance and Prime Minister’s Office to identify officials who can be penalised with surcharge for not adhering to financial regulations either in revenue collection or procurement,” the minister said.