Govt has sufficient income despite lower Petronas contribution

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will have more than sufficient income to run the economy despite lower contribution from Petroliam
Nasional Bhd (Petronas) next year.

The national oil company is expected to pay some RM28 billion in dividend to the government, a reduction of RM2 billion it used to pay every year.

"Petronas wants more money to reinvest in their operations which will in turn bring back revenue to us. It is more than sufficient for us," secretary-general of Finance Ministry, Tan Sri Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, told reporters after attending 2012 Post-Budget Dialogue, organised by Malaysian Economic Association here on Monday, Oct 10.

The government expected total revenue to rise to RM186 billion next year from RM183 billion this year, he said.

Meanwhile, the ministry's undersecretary, Economic & International Division, Dr Sundaram Annamalai, said the government was committed to make sure that the debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio would be below 55 per cent by 2020.

"We want to make sure that it does not exceed 55 per cent by 2020. Under the New Economic Model, we are supposed to bring it (the budget) near
balanced, right by 2020," he said.

The federal government's debt-to-GDP ratio for this year is expected to be at 53.8 per cent this year and RM54.8 per cent next year. - Bernama