Amir Hamzah: Govt to lessen dependency on national oil company
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s dependence on the annual dividends of national oil and gas company PETRONAS as a source of revenue for government coffers has been on the decline over the years, says Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan (pic).
Speaking to Sunday Star in an exclusive interview, he said this comes with the progress achieved by the country and the diversification of revenue streams.
“Our dependency on PETRONAS has also declined over the years. The revenue from the company at one point was more than 40% of the total government revenue.
“As for 2023, it has declined to about 19% to 20%. And in the current projection forward, we are going to try to take it down to about 15%-16% while at the same time growing other revenues,” he said.
For 2024, PETRONAS has committed a dividend payout of RM32bil.
“We have to recognise that PETRONAS has done well over the years. It built a Fortune 500 company. They have been growing well overseas.
In that sense, they have resilience in their system.
“They may have to do some optimisation to sustain, and I am sure (PETRONAS CEO) Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Kamadjaja Aziz and the leadership there will be looking at how to sustain better going forward,” he added.
He said the Madani Economy Framework too has been focusing on diversification.
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He said foreign direct investment (FDI) is also flowing into the construction sector as data centres and new factories are being built, adding that the RM378.5bil total approved investments last year and gross domestic product (GDP) reflect the value translating to the ground.
“I saw some numbers not too long ago from the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry and Bank Negara which says in the past, about 70% of all approved investments were converted to reality, and the number has now increased to 78.7%. So that’s good. It is really making sure that what we promised is translated on the ground.
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“This February, we pushed up the minimum wage to RM1,700. What it does is it spurs private consumption. The leg of the economy now will have FDI, DDI (domestic direct investment) and private consumption. We just need to focus on how we continue to feed this engine, so the whole economy will continue to churn well.
“Is it going to be perfectly smooth? Nothing in the world is perfectly smooth, but if you focus well and get more done, have the resilience, our plans are clear, we have the ability to transform the economy,” he added.
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As for the development between PETRONAS and Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros), Amir Hamzah said discussions between the two are still ongoing.
“They have worked out a win-win solution. If there is some sharing of revenue that happens along the way, does the country lose? The answer is no,” he said.
“If Petros were to gain some money, they would still spend it to grow the oil and gas industry in Sarawak.
“From the GDP point of view, the country still gets revenue, just that it is allocated from a different vehicle.”
In January, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said PETRONAS will retain its national authority over oil and gas even as Petros takes control of gas distribution in Sarawak.
While Petros has authority as a gas aggregator, both the state oil company and the Sarawak government had agreed it would not interfere with PETRONAS’ role and operations under the Petroleum Development Act 1974.
The Star has reached out to PETRONAS for comment.
