KUCHING: Sarawak has made history by achieving its highest-ever financial performance, recording RM14.187 billion in revenue for the year 2024.
Deputy Premier of Sarawak and Second Minister for Finance and New Economy, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this success was the result of ongoing efforts in revenue re-engineering spearheaded by Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg.
“In 2024, Sarawak recorded total revenue of RM14.187 billion, the highest in the state’s history. This outstanding achievement stems from continuous revenue re-engineering efforts initiated and led by the Sarawak Premier,” he said during his ministerial winding-up session at the 19th Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting on Wednesday.
According to him, a significant portion of the revenue came from the state sales tax on oil and gas, which, as of April 2025, has contributed RM21.38 billion since its introduction in January 2019.
For Ordinary Expenditure in 2024, the state spent RM12.71 billion, of which RM4.91 billion was expended on operating expenditures while RM7.8 billion was appropriated to the Development Funds Account.
As for Development Expenditure, a sum of RM8.66 billion was spent, accounting for 95 per cent of the state’s development budget for the year.
“For the first four months of 2025, the state government has collected RM4.3 billion, or 30 per cent of the annual revenue projection of RM14.2 billion. The main contributors include state sales tax (RM1.76 billion), cash compensation in lieu of oil and gas rights (RM1.17 billion), and dividends (RM608 million),” he said.
However, he cautioned that the challenging global economic environment and geopolitical uncertainties affecting the oil and gas markets are expected to impact the state’s revenue forecast for this year.
On the expenditure for 2025, as of April, RM3.68 billion or 27 per cent of the approved Ordinary Expenditure has been expended while RM1.44 billion or 13 per cent has been expended for Development Expenditure. -UKASnews
