BTImes
2008/10/16
KUALA LUMPUR: More large government projects, including those in the five growth corri
dors, will be reviewed to reduce operating costs ahead of the impending global economic slowdown, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
However, he assured investors that only government projects would be affected and not those financed by private companies. "The projects which have not been implemented and some that have been started will be studied to see whether they could be postponed. "This is for big and expensive projects. If appropriate, we will postpone them," Abdullah said during a Hari Raya open house at Biro Tata Negara yesterday.The government has been on an austerity drive since June when the global price of oil increased beyond US$135 (RM474) per barrel.
Government ministries and departments have been told to trim their operating expenditures and when possible, to put off non-essential projects and plans.Some ministries, such as Defence Ministry, have had their original Ninth Malaysia Plan budgets slashed by about 10 per cent or RM300 million.In fact, in his speech earlier at the BTN, Abdullah said the agency had put its reorganisation plans on hold in order to save money. Speaking to reporters later, Abdullah reiterated that the Malaysian economy was resilient enough to withstand the worst of the global economic crisis.He also said Malaysia remained a competitive and attractive country to investors and that it had diversified its exports markets instead of being overly reliant on the US market.
(Blogger's note: Was there money in the first place to carry out all those "corridor" projects?)
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