KUCHING: It's important for Sarawak to get a fair share of allocations in Budget 2023, says Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
The state Deputy Premier said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the emphasis on Sarawak's share of the budget, including bigger allocations compared to previous years.
"The devil is in the details, for example how much of the allocations is for ongoing projects and how much is for new projects," he said in an immediate reaction on Friday (Feb 24).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced various goodies for Sarawak and Sabah in the revised Budget 2023, including RM5.6bil in development allocation for Sarawak.
This is an increase from the RM4.6bil development allocation in last year's budget.
In addition, the annual special grant for Sarawak under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution will be increased to at least RM300mil from RM16mil previously.
On this, Dr Sim said RM300mil was a good start pending the finalisation of a new formula for the grant.
Last month, Anwar said the Federal Government would increase the special grants under Article 112D to Sabah and Sarawak based on a suitable formula, which was still being finalised.
He had agreed to Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg's proposal for a clear formula to determine the amount of the grant.
