BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – The Legislative Council (LegCo) has approved a government budget of $5.86 billion for the 2021/2022 financial year after 11 days of deliberation.
On Thursday, the supply bill was read for a third time and was passed without any amendments to the allocations for each government ministry.
The bill will come into effect at the start of the financial year on April 1.
The government’s fiscal position took a major hit after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic sent oil prices crashing early last year.
As of February 28, government has collected just $1.46 billion revenue for the 2020/21 financial year, down 57 percent from the previous year.
Although oil prices have stabilised from a 25-year low in April 2020, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said Brunei’s current fiscal deficit stands at $2.98 billion, the largest in over a decade and nearly three times more than the previous year.
The ballooning deficit has forced government to cut development spending and continue with fiscal consolidation measures, as it draws on reserves to finance the deficit. This year’s development expenditure is listed as $600 million, down from $800 million last year.
The government has projected the deficit to widen to $3.25 billion in 2021/22 — a pessimistic forecast compared to other analyses which see the deficit narrowing — with revenue predicted to increase to $2.61 billion based on current oil prices.
Below we break down government spending by ministry. We list the FY 2021/22 allocation for each ministry, which we have calculated as operational budget plus development expenditure.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN 2021/22:
- Prime Minister’s Office – $427 million
- Ministry of Defence – $616 million
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs – $122 million
- Ministry of Finance and Economy – $929 million
- Ministry of Home Affairs – $147 million
- Ministry of Education – $789 million
- Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism – $118 million
- Ministry of Religious Affairs – $297 million
- Ministry of Development – $433 million
- Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports – $104 million
- Ministry of Health – $387 million
- Ministry of Transport and Infcommunications – $144 million
- Ministry of Energy- $285 million
- Charged expenditure – $1.06 billion
TOTAL: $5.86 BILLIONÂ