Johor govt presents RM2.44m surplus for state Budget 2023

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Dec 1 — The Johor government today presented a surplus budget of RM2.44 million, after recording deficit budgets in 2021 and 2022

The last time Johor recorded a budget surplus was in 2020, which saw a surplus of RM2.36 million.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who presented his administration’s maiden budget, said the state government is expected to record RM1.734 billion next year, with only RM1.731 billion on expenditure.

The budget themed "Maju Johor, Makmur Bersama Rakyat" (Advance Johor, Prosper with the People) involved a total of RM69.51 billion in dependent expenditure and the remainder RM1.662 billion is supply expenditure.

Onn Hafiz said for next year, Johor's revenue is estimated at RM1.734 billion, with expenditure at RM1.731 billion.

Therefore, he said there is a surplus of RM2.44 million.

"A total of RM1.126 billion is allocated for the purpose of operating expenses involving emoluments of RM559.54 million, services and supplies (RM316.73 million), assets (RM27.86 million), grants and fixed payments (RM209.37 million) and other expenses (RM13.24 million).

"Johor's expected revenue for 2023 increased by 3.75 percent, compared to the revenue for 2022. The operating expenses for the same period are expected to decrease by 11.56 per cent.

"The performance of the estimated revenue collection for 2023 also increased by 66 million due to Johor's revenue in 2022 only recording a collection of RM1.671 billion," said Onn Hafiz when presenting the Johor Budget 2023 at the state legislative assembly in Bangunan Sultan Ismail here.

Onn Hafiz, who is the Machap assemblyman, said that Johor's economy has now returned as part of the post Covid-19 recovery process.

Despite the economic uncertainty, he said Johor continued to show encouraging performance.

"I believe that Johor's rapid economic progress is contributed by several factors, with the state’s stable political position as the main factor.

"This is followed by Johor being investor-friendly to ensure that the state remains the main destination of choice for investors in addition to the re-opening of the international borders between Johor and Singapore from April 1.

"The improvement of the public delivery system and the development of human capital are also factors in Johor's increasingly vibrant economy," said Onn Hafiz.

Despite that, Onn Hafiz explained that the state government will be vigilant and continue frugal measures so that prudent spending is practiced by reducing allocations for non-productive activities to avoid wastage.

"The focus of spending is more on development projects that will have a full impact for the well-being of the people of Johor,” he said.

With next year expected to be a challenging economic situation, Onn Hafiz said it is important that the state government provides a sustainable and resilient economic plan as well as sufficient savings reserves to face the challenges ahead.

He added that the Malaysian economy is certainly not spared from such an impact.

"Although the country is in the recovery phase, the uncertainty of the global economy will certainly affect the country’s economic growth,” he said, adding that this will include Johor which has an open economy.