The provision or ceiling of the Contingency Fund had been revised five times within the past 15 years, the State Financial Secretary Office said.
KUCHING: There is no necessity to table the Contingency Fund for 2020 because it already has has a provision or ceiling of RM500 million in the State Budget, the State Financial Secretary Office said in a statement today.
It said the provision or ceiling of the Contingency Fund had been revised five times within the past 15 years, with the last revision made and approved by the State Legislative Assembly Sitting in November 2018, where the provision was increased from RM250 million to RM500 million effective from 2019.
The statement also said the last revision was clearly stated in the 2019 Budget Speech tabled in the State Legislative Assembly Sitting in November 2018, where an additional appropriation of RM250 million was allocated for the Contingency Fund account.
“This new provision/ceiling of RM500 million for the Contingency Fund is reflected in the State 2019 Unaudited Financial Statement.
“It is important to note that the State Legislative Assembly’s approval would only be required for (i) revision of the Contingency Fund provision/ceiling, and (ii) replenishment of Contingency Fund account via Supplementary Supply Bill to ensure the provision/ceiling remains intact.
“As such, the necessity to table the Contingency Fund for 2020, which already has a provision/ceiling of RM500 million, in the State Budget is not required,” it said.
The statement was issued by State Financial Secretary Office in response to Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh alleging the absence of the Contingency Fund in its 2020 State Budget.
It also said a Contingency Fund is one of the financial measures in public finance to manage financial resources mobilisation and expenditure, as well as to meet urgent and unforeseen needs of expenditure of the government, for which no other provision exists.
“The Contingency Fund is constituted under Article 103 of the Federal Constitution and Section 11 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 (Act 61).
“Under this legal framework, the Minister in charge with the responsibility for finance is authorised to make advances from the Contingency Fund for the above-said purposes.
“In addition, Section 3(3) of the Financial Procedure (Contingencies and Trust Funds) Ordinance, 1963 provides the Chief Minister with the authority to make advances from Contingency Fund to meet urgent and unforeseen needs for expenditure for which no other provision exists and for which money cannot be provided for under Section 15(4) of Financial Procedure Act 1957 (Act 61),” it said.
Wong in a statement yesterday had insisted that Sarawak does not have a Contingency Fund in its 2020 State Budget despite Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas declaring that there was one.
Referring to photographs of pages from what he said were budget speeches tabled in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN), Wong had said that while there was a provision of RM250 million in the 2019 budget, there was none for this year.
Earlier yesterday, Uggah who is also Second Finance Minister had in a press statement said that RM500 million was allocated for the 2020 Contingency Fund after Wong on Monday challenged him to show to the public that the DUN had approved the fund last year.
Wong and Uggah, who was appointed as Second Finance Minister after Wong quit the post last year, have been engaged in a war of words after Wong questioned how the state government was financing the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) packages to help Sarawakians weather the economic slump due to the Covid-19 pandemic.