Finance Ministry to table fiscal responsibility act by year-end

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) plans to table the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) in Parliament by the end of this year and will also include a medium-term revenue strategy and guiding principles on aspects such as a broader revenue base and statutory debt limits.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said a country must be strictly supervised and controlled financially so that it has sufficient resources to implement appropriate reform programmes and meet the country's environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda.

"All of this, and more, are also shared in the recently published Pre-Budget Statement, which sets out MoF priorities for Budget 2023," he said in the 99th Laporan Kewangan Rakyat released today.

Tengku Zafrul said that since 2020, the Finance Ministry has focused on building socio-economic resilience so that the people and businesses can bounce back stronger than before, should a crisis like COVID-19, or more serious ones, come to the fore in the future.

He added that the Finance Ministry is guided by three main principles, namely responsiveness, accountability and reform to build the foundation for long-term reforms.

"As far as possible, various policies are based on the principles (ESG) as well as the consideration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," he said.

Tengku Zafrul said ESG-based reforms are capable of building long-term socio-economic resilience, and this is the best defence against future shocks and pandemics.

"In fact, the country’s efforts towards sustainability have already begun with government-linked investment companies such as Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund and Permodalan Nasional Bhd which have already launched their respective sustainability frameworks and targets," he added. - Bernama