PARLIAMENT | The number of special lottery draws will be reduced starting next year, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

This is part of the government's effort to address social ills and to reduce the financial burden on the rakyat, he explained.

"This reduction in the number of special draws is an effort by the current government to reduce the number of betting days so that the effect of gambling activities, such as gambling addiction, can be limited.

"This is the reason why the government does not intend on approving any further betting licenses that will increase gambling activities," Lim said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

This policy to reduce the number of special draws annually will be announced during the tabling of Budget 2019 on Nov 2 this year, he said.

The previous BN government had approved a total of 22 special draw dates for this year, he said.

Since its introduction in 1999, special draws had raked in an average of RM200 million annually, with about RM238 million collected in 2017 alone, Lim said.

Special draws were initially introduced to collect revenue to fund social welfare initiatives, and sports and health activities for the rakyat, among others.