MP SPEAKS The question that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must answer is: why is he not convening a special meeting of Parliament to present the restructuring of Budget 2015?
As it is the Parliament which approved the RM273.9 billion Budget 2015, it is only right and proper - fully in accord with the principle of parliamentary democracy - that Najib should convene a special Parliament meeting to present the restructured Budget 2015 because of the weakening of the ringgit and plunging oil prices.
It is not too late for Najib to do what is right, and convene a special meeting of Parliament to present the revised Budget 2015, as a special Parliament meeting can be convened even within 48 hours. Otherwise, Najib would be showing utter contempt to Parliament and the principle of parliamentary democracy.
Oil-related revenue accounted for 29.5 percent of total government revenue. According to the Estimates of Federal Government’s Revenue 2015, oil-related revenue is calculated on the basis of Malaysian crude oil price being US$110 per barrel in 2014 and US$105 per barrel in 2015.
Based on these assumptions, the government had projected a total income of RM235.2 billion for Budget 2015 with a total expenditure of RM273.9 billion, targetting a gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 5 to 6 percent, and trimming the fiscal deficit to 3 percent of GDP by end-2015.
By early November, crude oil prices have fallen to US$80-85 per barrel. Today, global crude oil prices have already declined by almost 60 percent from the middle of last year to trade below US$50 per barrel.
The latest forecast is that oil prices could trade around US$40 a barrel in the first half of the year.
It has been estimated that every drop of US$1 per barrel would cost the federal government about RM650 million in revenue.
This was why almost a month before Budget 2015 was approved by the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 25, 2014, DAP had already urged for a revision of the Budget 2015 as its very basis and projections had been knocked off by the drastic fall in crude oil prices and other economic developments - including the weakening of the Malaysian ringgit.
Najib had ample time to convene a special Parliament meeting to present his restructured Budget 2015. Why is he not doing so?
Bold but right decision
In fact, the last cabinet meeting on Dec 17 should have taken the bold but right decision to hold a special Parliament meeting for a revised Budget 2015 before the end of last year.
Instead, the cabinet went on a year-end vacation, and the country was virtually without a federal government with the prime minister and most ministers out of the country when Malaysia suffered the worst floods catastrophe in living memory three days before Christmas.
Although Najib cut short his vacation in Hawaii and subsequently ordered all ministers to return from their vacation overseas, not all ministers complied, and the cabinet was unable to hold any special meeting - whether on the floods catastrophe or a revised Budget 2015 - before the 2015 New Year, and the cabinet could only be reconvened on Jan 7.
The question is whether a revised Budget 2015 was on the agenda of the first cabinet meeting on Jan 7, and if so, why a special Parliament meeting was not convened as there had been ample time to do so.
A special Parliament meeting should have been convened by the second cabinet meeting on Jan 14.
In fact, a special Parliament meeting could still be convened in a matter of 48 hours. Why has Najib ruled out such an option as he is showing utter contempt for the Parliament, which had approved the original Budget 2015 on Nov 25?
A special Parliament meeting is urgent and imperative as - apart from a revised Budget 2015 - many issues confronting the country need to be addressed, including:
- The worst floods catastrophe in living memory and the appalling state of unpreparedness with regard to the flood disaster management preparations by the National Security Council;
At RM19.1 billion, the allocation for the PM's Department represents an increase of about 16 percent from RM16.5 billion last year. In Budget 2013, the budget for PM's Department was RM14.6 billion.
In the revised Budget 2015, the Prime Minister's Office must set an example for all ministries, and its allocation of RM19.1 billion should be slashed by more than 50 percent.
I want to remind Najib that in the early 1960s, the total federal budget expenditure per year did not even reach RM1 billion.
MP: While revising budget, revise finance minister, too
LIM KIT SIANG is DAP parliamentary leader and Gelang Patah MP.
