SEREMBAN, Dec 2 — The Negri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly (DUN) unanimously approved the state’s Budget 2021 today to enable the administration and development agenda to be continued.

The Negri Sembilan Supply Bill (2021) 2020 (Budget 2021), which involves an allocation of RM560 million, was debated for three days, involving 35 assemblymen representing the state government and the opposition.

The Negri Sembilan Budget 2021 is a deficit budget of RM112 million as the allocation of RM560 million exceeds the estimated revenue of RM448 million during the year.

When winding up the debate, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said the state government had succeeded in increasing its reserves from RM687.77 million in 2018 to RM1.002 billion in 2020.

"This means the state government managed to collect reserves of RM315 million in two years (2018-2020),” he said at the winding-up debate session on the bill which was done together with the motion to uphold the royal address.

Last Friday, Aminuddin presented the budget, themed "Stimulating the Economy and Empowering the People”, with an allocation of RM560 million, thus making it the largest budget tabled in the history of Negri Sembilan.

On the estimated state development expenditure amounting to RM153 million in 2021, Aminuddin said it was a strategy to spur economic recovery.

"It will have a multiplier effect on the economy and help at least 12 sectors in the construction industry chain such as cement, sand, stone, iron, paint, machinery, equipment, and machinery, among others.

"This will definitely open up many job opportunities and boost domestic cash flow,” he said, adding that the RM153 million estimated development input was expected to produce an output of RM310.59 million.

On the increase in allocation for the Mentri Besar's Office to RM30 million next year from RM10 million this year, Aminuddin said the higher allocation would be used for the state assembly’s service centre, resolving people’s problems, allotments for district offices, building traders’ resettlement centre, haemodialysis treatment fund and other community services.

Explaining further, Aminuddin said on the advice of the State Finance Office, court order allocation, which was also included in the allocation under the Menteri Besar’s Office, also saw an increase from RM1 million to RM8 million as there were 11 old cases yet to be concluded in the Federal Court and Court of Appeal.

Last year, Negri Sembilan presented the budget, themed "Sustaining the Economy and Prospering the People”, with an allocation of RM507 million.

Meanwhile, Aminuddin said all state executive council members had agreed to take a 10 per cent salary cut for six months starting in January to be channeled into the Negri Sembilan Disaster Trust Account.

At the conference, the motion to uphold the royal address was also approved.

The conference resumes tomorrow. — Bernama