Malaysia’s boon and bane

WHEN Budget 2022 was presented in November 2021 by the Finance Minister, the government’s revenue was based on a crude oil price forecast of US$67 (RM281.40) per barrel.Based on this forecast, the government expected to collect some RM43.9bil in terms of petroleum-related revenue.

The bulk of this is in the form of the annual dividend from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) amounting to RM25bil, the Petroleum Income Tax or PITA of RM12.4bil and other forms of petroleum-related revenue of RM6.5bil.