Budget 2021 Adjustments: It was not a tough decision - Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR: Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said it was not a tough decision to give in to some of the requests made by Members of Parliament in the Budget 2021.

"It was not a tough decision. If you look at it, we listened to all the requests in the debate, and the requests made by both sides.

"Some of the requests are actually fair and it's an easy decision. For example, the the frontliners. It's not just the Ministry of Health frontliners but all the others who are involved directly under the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), the police and some of the army," he said in an interview with The Edge daily.

When asked about the 'balancing act' in getting support and approval for the budget during a pandemic, Zafrul described it as a process of check and balance.

"When you say balancing act, it is always checks and balances as well. In this new world, we've got to learn to live with these checks and balances.

"Which is good because no one is perfect. The budget itself is not perfect. If there are improvements, we should take to it.

"The economy is moving so fast and the crisis is making it move even faster, so we need to be very agile when it comes to policy making, moving forward," he said.

Zafrul said the allocation of additional funds for Budget 2021 came from the Contingency Fund Advance Warrant (CFAW) and the Contingency Reserve Advance Warrant (CRAW).

"For operating expenditure, it's RM1.5 billion for contingency and for development expenditure, it's about RM2 billion.

"This gives the Minister of Finance the authority to use within that amount and that's about RM500 million." he said.

Commenting on the allocation for the Department of Special Affairs (JASA), Zafrul said negotiations to reduce allocation were still ongoing.

"I'm still in discussion with the minister. His session is on Wednesday, so by Wednesday, we need to decide how big a cut (it) is" he said.