Kuching: Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen has raised alarm over Sarawak’s financial position, revealing that the State Government is projected to spend RM9.3 billion more than its revenue in 2025.
Speaking during the debate on the State Budget 2026 at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) today, Chong noted that the 2025 Budget, tabled on 11 November 2024, initially projected a healthy financial position, with RM14.2 billion in revenue against RM13.7 billion in expenditure – an expected surplus of RM486 million.
“However, the government later admitted it would not meet the RM14.2 billion revenue target. The revised revenue projection stands at RM12.1 billion, while expenditure has increased to RM14 billion, resulting in a deficit of RM1.9 billion.
“What was projected as a surplus has now become a huge deficit,” Chong said.
RM7.4 billion in off-balance-sheet spending
Chong stressed that the RM1.9 billion deficit does not include the off-balance-sheet under the Alternative Funding Initiative (AFI), which saw the Sarawak Government spending an additional RM7.4 billion for 2025.
“When you add the off-balance-sheet spending, the government is actually overspending by RM9.3 billion in 2025 alone,” he said.
RM26 billion borrowed in four years
Chong also highlighted that from 2023 to 2026, the government will have spent RM26 billion through AFI, all financed by loans that do not appear in the official expenditure statements.
He said, for 2026 alone, AFI spending is estimated at RM5.2 billion, covering major projects such as:
• RM13 million for preliminary works to expand Yayasan Sarawak International Secondary School campuses to Bintulu and Miri.
• RM3.22 billion for major road infrastructure projects
• RM402 million for the upgrading and replacement of the Water Pipelines Programme.
• RM153 million for the rural electrification program.
• RM1 billion for Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) infrastructure and system.
• RM450 million for the SMART tower projects and the MSRBN initiative.
“These amounts are not included in the 2026 Budget, which claims a projected surplus of RM144 million. If we include the RM5.2 billion AFI spending, the so-called surplus becomes a RM5 billion deficit.
“Likewise, since 2023, the State Government has spent a total of RM21 billion under this AFI, which is not reflected in the Expenditure Item under the Financial Statement of the Government. They were all spending on borrowed money,” Chong stated.
Calls for full disclosure of total state debt
Chong questioned the government directly on the state’s actual financial obligations:
- How much in total has the State Government borrowed to sustain such extraordinary expenditure over and beyond the Approved Expenditure of the annual Budgets?
- How much is the interest charged on these loans taken up by the State Government?
- How much is the annual repayment amount for these loans?
