Govt's revenue falls 18 pct due to Covid

Putrajaya has estimated that its revenue has declined approximately 18 percent to RM200.5 billion in 2020 due to the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a parliamentary written reply, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that due to this, he expected a wider of deficit of 5.8 percent to six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

This is almost double than the 3.2 percent deficit projected last year.

"The government, when tabling Budget 2020, announced that the projection for the government revenue for 2020 was RM244.5 billion based on an assumption that the average Brent crude oil price remained at US$41 per barrel between January and Aug 5," he said.

"However, the Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the financial status of the federal government.

"Based on the current situation, it is estimated that revenue will fall 18 percent following a lower GDP," said Zafrul, adding that the government was basing this on the crude oil price remaining at US$41 per barrel until August.

Besides that, he said the government also imposed a few tax exemptions and deferment in tourism sectors as part of the stimulus packages implemented during the pandemic.

The details of the revised estimated revenue will be tabled together with the estimated financial report and Budget 2021 on Nov 3, he told Amiruddin Hamzah (Pejuang-Kubang Pasu) who asked him for details regarding the revised revenue amount.

Meanwhile, deputy finance minister (I) Abdul Rahim Bakri said the country's financial situation was under control even though the government had overspent to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s economy.

Rahim said the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package 2020 (Prihatin) and the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) worth RM295 billion as well as a fiscal injection of RM45 billion had helped spur the country’s economy after experiencing a contraction.

"On a monthly basis, the GDP has shown a recovery from a contraction of 28.6 percent in April to 19.5 percent in May and 3.2 percent in June," he was quoted as saying at the Dewan Negara sitting by Bernama today.

It was reported that the country's economy had fallen 17.1 percent in the second quarter.

In another development, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba revealed that a total of 34,848 surgeries that were originally scheduled at government hospitals between March 18 and June had been postponed or cancelled.

This included 18 cases of kidney transplant surgeries, 2,413 cancer surgeries, and 32,147 non-cancer surgeries, he told Charles Santiago (Harapan-Klang) in a parliamentary reply.

Ophthalmological surgeries stood at the highest number of surgeries delayed with 16,510 operations postponed.

"The postponement of operations during this period was caused by Covid-19 where the services of the hospital mainly focussed on Covid patients and the readiness to face any rise in Covid cases," Adham said.

He said measures have been taken to overcome the postponement of operations which included extended service time in specialist clinics and other medical procedures.

The ministry also outsourced some services such as radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients and heart surgery services, added the minister. - Mkini