Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said all civil servants are eligible for the payout, including staff of the Penang Island City Council, Seberang Perai Municipal Council and state statutory agencies.
“Religious school and Kafa teachers, and independent Chinese school teachers will also get a cash bonus of RM300 while those in tahfiz and pondok schools and tadika Islam (Tadis) will get a RM200 cash award,” he told the state assembly today.
Earlier, Lim tabled a RM1.21 billion budget for 2018 with a higher deficit of RM748.5 million, making it the seventh consecutive deficit budget for the state since 2011.
The deficit has gone up compared with RM667.10 million this year.
The 2018 state budget is, however, lower than this year’s budget of RM1.45 billion with the deficit going up by RM81.5 million compared with this year.
Lim said the projected revenue to be collected for 2018 will be lower at RM503.7 million compared with this year’s projected RM687.41 million.
“The lower revenue can be attributed to lack of new sources of revenue, expected reduction in interest collection next year, and reduced dividend payouts and reduced interest on fixed deposits,” he said.
Lim also announced a RM1.25 billion operating expenditure for next year, lower than last year’s RM1.35 billion.
The state’s cash reserves have increased to RM1.8 billion, compared with RM1 billion this year.
“Our success over the past 10 years is evident through surpluses amounting to more than RM578 million from 2008 to 2015. Our debts have also been reduced by 90%.
“It is clear that nine years’ of Pakatan leadership has had so much effect on what was done 50 years before 2008.”