KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said that Malaysia was experiencing a decline in its administration.
During the tabling of the 2023 Budget today, the premier said corruption and embezzlement seemed to be systemic, causing deterioration in the government's good governance, subsequently tarnishing the country's image.
All these, Anwar said, had caused the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to drop to 61, compared to 29 back in 1998.
"The Transparency International Malaysia has stated that the reason for the decline was due to the failure to curb political corruption.
"The Auditor General's report 2020 and 2021 revealed leakages of almost RM3 billion covering the loss of public money, waste and even irregular payments.
"For example, the issue of under-collection of vehicle import duty, the government has lost RM72 million due to the weak import duty collection process.
"In addition, there were also leakages in the implementation of diesel subsidies with an estimate of almost RM10 billion worth of diesel subsidies misappropriated last year.
"This is the evidence of the various trends that have a negative impact on the country. This must be stopped, if we want the country to move forward bravely and gloriously.
"We must decide what we want for the future of the country."