Sarawak 2022 Revenue Highest So Far: Premier

KUCHING / 02/02/2023

KUCHING, Thurs: Sarawak’s revenue for 2022 at RM11.9 bil was the highest revenue collection so far achieved by Sarawak, Sarawak’s Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Haji Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg said today.

The performance for the financial year 2022 has surpassed the projected revenue by 17% from RM10.2, he told reporters during a post-cabinet- meeting press conference at the DUN, here. 

He said the State’s revenue comprised of four main categories namely tax revenue, non-tax revenue, non-revenue receipts, and Federal grants and reimbursements. 

“Tax revenue contributed RM6.7 billion or 56% of the total revenue, while the other categories contributed 44%. Under the tax revenue category, State Sales Tax (“SST”) contributed 84% or RM5.6 billion of total tax revenue collected. 

“The taxable products under SST, among others, comprise of oil and gas products, oil palm products and aluminium. The better performance in SST collection was due to higher market prices in 2022 for oil and gas products and oil palm products,” he pointed out. 

He said prior to the introduction of SST on oil and gas products, particularly financial year 2018, the revenue collected then was at RM7.2 billion. Therefore, the revenue collected for the  financial year 2022 saw an increase of an of 65% compared to 2018,” he said. 

Sarawak Government will continue to study and look into various key initiatives to increase Sarawak’s revenue through enhancing, widening and diversifying its revenue source, he assured. 

“In 2022, various initiatives have been introduced such as enforcing the State’s dividend policy on Statutory Bodies and Government Linked Companies, and imposing SST on coal. 

“These efforts are imperative as the Sarawak Government continues to vigorously pursue its development agenda and for Sarawak to become a high-income economy by year 2030 as clearly outlined in the Post-Covid Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he pointed out. 

On special assistance under BKSS, he said Sarawak Government has decided to continue extending its Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) on electricity bill discount of 5% to 25% for domestic users, commercials and industries for the first six months of this year that would involve a sum of RM200 million.

This initiative was taken to further assist the people  and the business communities in riding through the post Covid-19 pandemic economic challenges and mitigating rising cost of living as well as cost of doing business, he told reporters.

Sumber dari : Sarawakku