Brunei sees US$1.87 billion budget deficit in upcoming financial year

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Feb. 28 (Xinhua): Brunei will have a national budget deficit of about 2.53 billion Brunei dollars (US$1.87 billion) in the financial year 2022-23, a government minister has said.

According to the local daily Borneo Bulletin on Sunday (Feb 27), Mohd Amin Liew, minister at the prime minister's office and second minister of finance and economy, has proposed a national budget of 5.7 billion Brunei dollars for the upcoming financial year, which will begin on April 1.

Government revenue for the same period is expected to reach 3.17 billion Brunei dollars, in which the revenue from the oil and gas sector is estimated at 2.25 billion Brunei dollars, the minister has told the Legislative Council's budget deliberation session.

The minister was quoted as saying that due to increased expenditure following the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic since August 2021, Brunei recorded an estimated budget deficit of 1.52 billion Brunei dollars in the current financial year 2021-22, compared to 3.24 billion Brunei dollars in the previous year.

The budget was unanimously passed by Legislative Council (LegCo) members for financial year 2022-2023 during the fourth day of the 18th Legislative Council session.

In a statement from LegCo, it said the world still facing the Covid-19 pandemic, it drives the ministries to make changes in initiatives, policies, acts and legislations to face challenges derived from the pandemic.

The changes include carrying out consistent approaches and continuously facilitating the use of information technology to manage the ministry and departments under it to provide public services by upholding the country’s aspiration towards a Smart Nation and Industrial Revolution 4.0. - Xinhua