KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is waiting for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to report its findings by federal auditors that RM620 million in public funds had been lost in 2020 before taking any action.

Deputy Finance Minister Mohd Shahar Abdullah told Parliament today that it is only appropriate to take action as some of those named in the Auditor-General’s report are currently under investigation by PAC.

"I think a lot of them have been called up by the PAC, isn’t it? So we’ll refer to the PAC’s report and take the appropriate action from there,” Shahar said when pressed by Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming on the ministry's efforts to identify and resolve the issue.

"We will take stern action based on the PAC’s recommendations,” the deputy minister said in the Dewan Rakyat.

On October 28, the Auditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid reported that non-compliance of federal ministries and departments with financial management led to issues involving irregular payments, loss of public funds and wastage amounting to RM620.07 million in 2020.

Nik Azman said that of the RM510.49 million in irregular payments, RM499.19 million involved payments for maintenance service claims without being verified at the National Security Council.

Separately in his speech today, Shahar defended the government’s plan to impose a one-off windfall tax, which it calls Cukai Makmur, on companies that prospered during the Covid-19 pandemic next year.

He said the Cukai Makmur — which also translates to Prosperity Tax — is a good mechanism to add revenue to the country's coffers even as Malaysia’s stock market lost RM33 billion when trading opened this morning.

"The increase was 9 per cent and is a one-off. Seeing as these companies have gained lots of profits, we felt they should contribute to the recovery efforts.

"Lots of analysts said those who quit the market were short-term investors. We should give it a few days for the long-term investors to come in and the market share will be competitively priced,” he added.

Shahar estimated that the one-off Cukai Makmur will generate more than RM3 billion for the Treasury.

Cukai Makmur was introduced by the MoF during the tabling of Budget 2022 in Parliament last Friday.

* Editor's note: An earlier version of this article contained an error which has since been rectified.