Budget 2023 will be presented again before year-end: Ismail Sabri

Budget 2023 will be presented again before the end of this year, caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He pointed out that it must be debated and approved in the Dewan Rakyat so that the essence of the federal budget can be implemented.

"We have announced the budget. We want to give the people several goodies, but the budget has yet to be approved," he said in his speech at a meet-and-greet programme with Risda and Felcra smallholders at Arena Merdeka in Tapah, Perak, today.

Ismail Sabri gave his commitment to implement all the initiatives in Budget 2023 if he continues to be given the mandate as prime minister in the 15th general election (GE15).

"If someone else takes over, I can't guarantee all that has been promised. There is a difference between the budget presented but not approved and the manifesto, which is a promise.

"When the budget is presented, it means funds are available. That's the difference. The money is already there, just waiting for approval to be implemented," he added.

On Oct 7, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz presented the budget to Parliament, which involved an allocation of RM372.3 billion.

However, the Dewan Rakyat has not debated nor approved the budget following the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10.

- Bernama