KUALA LUMPUR: Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa will chair a working committee to monitor the implementation of programmes and projects in Budget 2018, Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Irwan Serigar Abdullah said.
He said the monitoring was important to ensure the government’s goal of seeing the country’s economy growing between five per cent and 5.5 per cent next year could be achieved.
“A lot of programmes were planned (in Budget 2018), so we need to make sure they are implemented on time,” he told reporters after the Post-Budget 2018 Dialogue here today.
Mohd Irwan Serigar, who was a panellist at the dialogue, said he would be involved in the working committee as deputy chairman.
The working committee will also monitor the costs of implementing the programmes and projects, he said, adding that, ”We will not only look at the implementation schedule but also cost-efficiency and cost minimisation so that higher impact can be enjoyed by the people.”
Commenting on Budget 2018, he said the recovery in oil prices in the global market helped facilitate the budget preparation.
The government did not use the ringgit projection for next year, instead it used the current market price in preparing the budget, he added.-- BERNAMA