Husni: Treasury to focus more on strategic policy planning

IPOH: The Treasury, under the Finance Ministry, will focus more on strategic policy planning said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

He said the agency, which will undergo a transformation, will take on the role of a professional advisor to the Government and focus on carrying out various fiscal strategies.

“It would no longer be just a largely finance-focused central agency that only focuses on operation and administration matters,” he told reporters after attending the soft launch of a new bridge in Jalan Menteri in Kampung Manjoi here on Sunday.

Ahmad Husni said while the Treasury had in the past been driven to achieve immediate results, it would also begin to target long-term objectives.

“For instance, we have to take the nation’s financial standing in the next two to three years into consideration before deciding on the allocation for a ministry.

"We would also like to adopt the outcome-based budgeting approach to ensure the allocation received by each ministry reflects their overall performance by the end of the fiscal year.

“This is to pave way for Malaysia to attain the high income status by 2020,” he said, adding that the feasibility to implement the budgeting approach is currently being studied.

Ahmad Husni said the fiscal policy office would conduct research on various prerequisites that would enable the country to accomplish long-term goals in the next 30 years.

“A laboratory would also be set up to forecast the revenue the country would collect in the next few years and plan the country’s expenditure carefully.

“Institutions such as Bank Negara Malaysia and the Economic Planning Unit would also be roped in to deliberate on the matter,” he said.