PUTRAJAYA: The Prime Minister will consider tabling Budget 2023 in Parliament should the Federal Constitution allow him to do so.
This follows reports claiming that he would be the one tabling the budget on Oct 7 instead of Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said for now, the plan was for the Finance Minister to present Budget 2023 in Parliament.
“The Federal Constitution will have to be referred to determine if the Prime Minister can table the Budget.
“If it cannot be done, then we won’t. If we can, we will consider it,” he told reporters after addressing civil servants at their annual gathering yesterday.
The Prime Minister said he would seek advice from the Attorney General on the matter.
“I will not table (the Budget) if it is against the law,” he said.
The tabling of Budget 2023, which was earlier slotted for Oct 28, will now be on Oct 7. By convention, the Finance Minister tables the annual Budget.
However, reports quoted Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as claiming that Budget 2023 would be tabled by the Prime Minister.
He claimed that he was informed of the matter by “friends in the Cabinet”.
Muhyiddin also questioned why the tabling of the Budget had been moved to an earlier date.
