KUALA LUMPUR: The Auditor-General's Report revealed that Malaysia has spent more than three times (322 per cent) on subsidies in 2022, compared to 2021.
Auditor-General Datuk Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi said the federal administration spent RM55.443 billion in 2022, an increase of RM42.309 billion compared to the year before.
She said the bulk of the expenditure was on petroleum subsidies, at 81.5 per cent.
"Subsidies expenditure was recorded at RM55.443 billion, an increase of RM42.309 billion or 322.1 per cent as compared to RM13.134 billion in 2021.
"Subsidies for petroleum products was recorded as the highest subsidy expenditure amounting to RM45.184 billion or 81.5 per cent from the total subsidies expenditure," she said.
She said the expenditure on subsidies for petroleum product goods involves RON 95 petrol, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplied by 15 production companies for the claims from December 2021 to October 2022.
"Subsidies are paid based on the price difference set by the government compared to the actual market price.
"In 2022, the average price of petroleum products per barrel in the global market increased to USD100 compared to USD71 in 2021. However, the selling price set by the government remained unchanged since 2021," she added.
Wan Suraya also said RM4 billion was spent on electricity bill subsidies through the ICPT mechanism, with Tenaga Nasional Bhd covering a total of RM10.757 billion from July to December 2022.
She also said cooking oil, food aid, and supplementary food subsidies saw an increase to RM2.470 billion, up by RM1.421 billion or 135.5 per cent compared to 2021 due to rising palm oil prices.
She added that toll compensation subsidies decreased to RM861.22 million, down by RM474.94 million or 35.5 per cent from 2021, and subsidies for chicken and eggs, introduced in February 2022, amounted to RM2.255 billion to support farmers with increased production costs.