KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The development of the Madani subsidy assistance (Budi Madani) system did not incur any costs, said Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying.

She said the Budi Madani portal was created using the internal expertise of government officials, without external consultants.

"The development of Budi Madani does not involve any cost. Therefore, the issue of an open tender does not arise, given the use of existing infrastructure,” Lim said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

She was responding to Datuk Suhaimi Nasir (BN-Libaran), who inquired about the cost of developing the Budi Madani system, its procurement methods, and whether it was done through an open tender or otherwise.

Lim explained that the Budi Madani programme aims to retarget subsidies to those in need, curb rising living costs, and streamline the online application process for diesel vehicle owners.

She said the government continuously collects updated information to ensure those affected have an easy way to update their details and receive assistance.

"Diesel subsidy targeting through Budi Madani will also utilise all existing relevant government databases.

"Any additional information found through Budi Madani will be integrated into the Central Database Hub (Padu),” she added. —Bernama