KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak will not be referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee for his Budget 2017 speech following claims by several opposition lawmakers that it was peppered with discrepancies.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, however, assured that concerns raised by several lawmakers on the matter will be addressed by the Finance Ministry.

He was responding to Steven Sim (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) who had asked him if Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, would be investigated for misleading the house based on the Budget 2017 speech on Oct 21.

“The Finance Ministry will answer your concerns. Perhaps at the policy stage, it will be answered,” Pandikar said.

Lawmakers are currently debating the Budget 2017 at the Dewan Rakyat.

Last week Sim and Ong Kian Ming (DAP-Serdang) had raised concerns on the alleged discrepancies in the Budget, especially on the fact that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will spend RM1 billion to improve coverage and quality of broadband nationwide.

Sim had said that in the Estimated Federal Expenditure for the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, MCMC’s parent ministry, only RM57.5 million was set aside as “development expenditure” for a “Broadband Project”.