Khalid attacks Azmin, claims MB ‘twisted’ facts on Selangor deficit budget
(Malay Mail Online) – Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim came out today to deny that Selangor always tabled a deficit budget during his reign as mentri besar, labelling the claim by his successor Azmin Ali as untrue and misleading.
Khalid pointed out the annual Auditor-General (A-G) reports and financial statements have shown that, although his administration had applied for annual supplementary budgets since 2008, the state always reported a surplus of funds by year-end.
He also noted that state reserves have steadily increased since 2008.
The Port Klang assemblyman said Azmin’s claims were malicious in nature and gave the impression that he had poorly managed Selangor during his term as MB.
“It is misleading to claim that Selangor has experienced a deficit budget since 2008. It has to be remembered that the riches enjoyed by Selangor in the 2015 budget are due to the responsible approach taken by the previous administration,” Khalid said in a statement here.
“It is irresponsible for the current administration to justify a deficit budget by twisting facts, which can be disproved by evidence found in financial and audit reports,” the ex-MB added.
Khalid also provided official figures showing that the additional expenses by his administration were only incurred after the state government increased its earnings through prudent spending.
“High reserves were never used as a means to justify the state government to spend more than what it needs or can afford to spend,” Khalid stressed.
Yesterday, MB Azmin defended his tabling of a RM2.4 billion state budget for 2015, saying that Selangor has always had a deficit budget under his predecessor and rival Khalid.
The Selangor mentri besar explained that Khalid would normally table a balanced budget before adding additional expenditure and tabling this under the supplementary budget.
Comparing himself to Khalid, MB Azmin said he is taking an “honest” approach by declaring outright at the initial tabling of the state budget how much his administration would be spending, without adding any supplementary figures in the future.
Azmin tabled an RM2.4-billion state budget for 2015, the biggest in its history and over half a billion more than last year’s expenditure.
The 2015 state budget expenditure exceeds Selangor’s estimated RM1.97 billion revenue for next year.
“Based on the state government’s strong and convincing financial position, the state government has proposed an estimated RM2,422,500,000 to accomplish all the state government’s plans, especially for programmes aimed at the people’s well-being,” Azmin said at the start of his speech.
Out of the total RM2.4 billion, an estimated RM2.35 billion will be taken from the state consolidated fund that currently has a total of RM3.31 billion.
From the RM2.4 billion, RM1.29 billion (53.19 per cent) will be utilised for Selangor’s operating expenditure, while the remaining RM1.13 billion (46.81 per cent) will used for development purposes.
In contrast, Azmin’s predecessor, Khalid tabled a RM1.85 billion state budget for 2014, then considered the biggest amount in Selangor’s history.
In the 2014 state budget, RM1.225 billion (66.2 per cent) was used for operating expenditure, while RM625 million was used for development purposes.
