KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government will unveil today a record RM372.340 billion federal spending plan for next year, surpassing this year’s Budget by RM40 billion.

In Budget 2023, as much as RM94.3 billion has been allocated for development expenditure, the highest to date; the allocation for 2022 was RM71.2 billion.

Under this spending, allocation channelled into economic growth is up 2 per cent, taking up close to one-eighth of total development expenditure. Social, security and administrative spending all saw little to no expansion.

Projections for 2023’s operating expenditure, on the other hand, were expected to decrease to RM272.3 billion from this year’s RM284.7 billion, some RM12 billion less.

Still, the Ismail Sabri government has doubled spending for social assistance and subsidies from just 5.2 per cent under Budget 2022 to 11.3 per cent under next year’s operating expenditure, a move pundits have already anticipated given the proximity of the general election.

Emolument for the country’s civil service is also projected to decrease although by just under 2 per cent alongside pension distribution. Salaries, allowances and perks chalk up to a fourth of operating expenditure.

Meanwhile, 2023’s allocation for the Covid-19 fund will take up just 1.3 per cent of total OpEx. Under Budget 2022, allocation for the fund was nearly 7 per cent of total Budget.