Additional funds for the allocation were not included in the 2018 Budget, which were passed by Parliament last October, and must be provided for in a Supplementary Supply Bill, the Treasury said.
Supplementary Supply Bills are presented to Parliament, usually at its first meeting of the year, for extra expenditure by the federal government beyond those already allocated in the Budget, which is presented to Parliament in October as a Supply Bill.
On May 30, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced a special festive assistance payment of RM400 for civil servants in Grade 41 and below, as well as RM200 for government pensioners.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng later said that the payments would involve an allocation of RM700 million, to be tabled in Parliament in a Supplementary Supply Bill.
The Treasury said today that a previous announcement by former prime minister Najib Razak had given rise to the belief that the allocation for the additional funds had been provided for in the 2018 Budget.
The former prime minister had announced a special payment of RM1,500 to all civil servants in his Budget speech. “But in fact, the allocation for the payment was not provided for in the Budget. This has been confirmed by the Accountant-General’s Office,” the statement said.
The Accountant-General, Saat Esa, had also confirmed that the allocation must be passed by Parliament through a Supplementary Supply Bill.
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