Fiscal Responsibility Act, Procurement Act expected to be tabled by year-end

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government Procurement Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act are expected to be tabled by year end, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said this in response to a question by Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) on the reforms made by the government to curb the leakage of public funds and whether it will continue reporting on fiscal expenditure and monitor the Budget.

“As part of good governance, government procurement must be transparent and open,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time.

He said that direct negotiations and use of public funds for political parties and personal use is quite widespread, but added that it has since been stopped.

Anwar added that other measures taken to curb leakage include targeted subsidies, ending monopolies to bring down prices and debating the Auditor-General’s reports in the Dewan Rakyat.

“There were some quarters who were concerned as there was no precedent for it. There is no precedent for the Prime Minister's Question Time, but it was not opposed,” he said.

“The same goes for the AG's report, it can be done. If it is good, why not? It doesn't matter if we agree or not, it can be debated,” added Anwar.

He added that while the tabling of the Government Procurement Act was mooted by the Pakatan Harapan government in 2019, it did not materialise.

To a supplementary question by Noraini whether the reforms will lead to delays in ongoing infrastructure projects, Anwar said while the delays are a concern, leakage is also widespread in direct negotiation projects.

“But we have to remember that swindling of public funds and taking commissions are quite widespread in the various direct negotiations projects,” he said, adding that the scope of negotiations for tenders had been limited.

Noraini had said that some quarters were of the view that direct negotiations should continue.