Windfall for Perak 'found', no more deficit

WHERE DID THE RM117 MILLION COME FROM?

Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir revealed today that the state has managed to find "extraordinary income" to the tune of RM117 million to cancel out the deficit in the state's budget.

"The budget is now balanced," he said to reporters during a press conference after the second sitting of the third session of the Perak state assembly which began and concluded today.

This windfall, he said is the result of the diligence of the BN government in their stewardship of the state.

"It was income not budgeted for, found after looking around for possible sources of revenue," he explained when asked where the money came from, without being any more specific.

Zambry (right) added that from the RM117 million, RM23 million will be used to cover the budget deficit, hence balancing it.

As for the rest of the money, he said the state government has decided to use the money to help the people by using it for poverty alleviation and infrastructure development.
This, he said, was the purpose of the RM80 million supplementary budget bill which was tabled and passed earlier by the state assembly.

The bill had come under fire from Pakatan assemblypersons who claimed that the supplementary bill will be being used to fund BN activities and will cause the budget to balloon to more than RM100 million.

"The money will not be used for the purposes alleged by the opposition," Zambry added.

'Deficit a financial instrument'

In his speech in the state assembly earlier, Zambry called the deficit a "financial instrument" which the state government can use to assist in the financial management of the state.

However he did not say if the negation of the deficit will remove the 'incentive' for the state government to spend money mindfully.

On the RM50 million that is being taken out as well, Zambry denied that the amount is being spent wastefully or taken out for nefarious purposes.

"We have money, what do we do with the money? We are investing the money to get income," he claimed.

Zambry also took a dig at state opposition leader Nizar Jamaluddin (left) for his attacks on the BN state government, calling the former MB "irresponsible".

"I don't understand how someone who claims to be a good Muslim can continue to give false information to the people. It is very unbecoming of him."

"Is this the kind of leader we want? Ask yourself," asked the Perak MB.

He speculated that the reason why the Pakatan representatives were being so contentious is because the opposition were jealous of the BN state government's achievements since they came into power.

courtesy of Malaysiakini