MP SPEAKS | The recent Budget 2019 is historic. It is the inaugural budget tabled by the Pakatan Harapan federal government which came into power on May 9, marking the first regime change in 61 years of our country’s history since Independence.

Amid many speculations that it will be an austerity one, Budget 2019 projected a healthy growth in government revenue at 11% compared to the year before and a reasonable deficit of 3.4% against the GDP.

For context, although targeted deficit for Budget 2018 was 2.8%, the actual deficit is around 3.7%.

Total projected expenditure is about RM316.55 billion against RM265.3 billion for 2018, while actual expenditure for 2018 is about RM290.4 billion.

To put it in another way, despite the debt challenge we are facing, the government did not cut spending for the people.

Take for example my Youth and Sports Ministry. While we take an 11% reduction in operating expenditure at the headquarters, we are expanding the budget for implementation agencies in-charge of youth and sports development such as Youth and Sports Department, National Sports Council, National Sports Institute, and National Youth and Sports Skills Training Institute.

The budget for these agencies which are directly involved in implementing policies to our target groups increased by 25% in total.

In other words, more for the people, lesser for the government.

How does the government deal with less? Someone asked me before the budget if there is a budget cut for our ministry, how do we deal with it? There was indeed a reduction in our ministry, about 23%, from RM1.35 billion in 2018 to RM1.04 billion with the biggest cut coming from operating expenditure which was reduced by almost 30%.

By dealing with corruption, leakages, and wastages, we can stretch the ringgit further.

For example, within less than half a year in power, the Pakatan Harapan federal government managed to reduce the cost of MRT2 construction by 22 percent saving taxpayers RM8.82 billion and the cost of LRT3 by almost 50 percent, saving taxpayers RM15 billion!

It was no coincidence that in one of his first announcements in the first month we came into office, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq dealt with government procurement and fiscal administration.

Many people asked us, “what are the new programmes you are implementing in the ministry?”

I think it is important to deal with the fundamentals. No point creating new programmes or even building new sports or youth facilities when the very mechanism to spend taxpayers money is still in shambles.

Through good governance and good fiscal management, the government can achieve more with less. A clean government can afford to be a lean government.

This is what I mean when I said, every ringgit we invest on an athlete or a youth, he or she must receive the value of that ringgit if not more.

In this aspect, I am extremely happy that the Budget 2019 includes an RM100 million allocation for sports development leading to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. It is now even more important for the ministry to ensure good governance in managing this allocation.

The National Sports Council is already tasked to set up an independent body to review the sports ecosystem in Malaysia, including government allocations to sports associations. Disbursement of allocations must be objective and transparent to prevent abuses. New Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) must be established.

When there is good governance, everyone gains. Not only government spending can be maximised, I believe the private sector will be more willing to invest when there is competency, accountability and transparency.

We want more private sector players to invest in sports in Malaysia, and they will only come in when they are confident that their money will not go into waste or misuse.

It was due to such confidence that within hours after Finance Minister tabled the Budget, announcing RM10 million for esports, a Singaporean company, Razer, announced that it will match the amount with an RM10 million investment.

There you go, the first FDI announcement directly following the budget. The next day, a Malaysian company, Pantheon, announced that it will also put in RM10 million into esports in Malaysia.

There are definitely more to be done. But I, like many Malaysians, am hopeful.

The Finance Minister has committed to implement several measures which will institutionalise good governance.

Among others, these include the tabling of new laws such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Government Procurement Act as well as the setting up of institutions such as a debt management office.

The government is set on a path to recover and restore confidence in our institution but we will do this with minimal distress to the people. Budget 2019 is evidence in that direction.

STEVEN SIM is the MP for Bukit Mertajam and Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.