Chow Confident Penang CRA Can Be Restored To Nearly RM1 Bln By 2028
GEORGE TOWN, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is confident that Penang's Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA) can be restored to nearly RM1 billion by 2028 through prudent financial management and higher state revenue.
He said the state government had spent RM1.02 billion on various social welfare programmes and cash assistance between 2018 and 2025, including under the 'Penang Lawan COVID-19' initiative.
Although the CRA balance has declined since 2019, Chow noted that the latest figures point to a recovery trend.
“The CRA balance declined from RM1.15 billion on Dec 31, 2019, to RM155.94 million at the end of 2024, before improving to RM235.55 million on May 21.
"This shows that a recovery is taking place. At the same time, since last year, we have successfully tabled a budget with the lowest deficit of RM33 million, compared with deficits running into hundreds of millions of ringgit in previous years," he said at a press conference here today.
Chow stressed that the spending achieved its goal of helping the people face hardship when the national economy was almost at a standstill.
He further said that strategies to increase state revenue, including a review of land tax rates, would be announced next week.
"I have been committed since day one, and by 2028, Penang's CRA can be restored to nearly RM1 billion. This fund can be used by my successor in the future," he added.
-- BERNAMA