The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs said a report it published assessed the sources of funds, allocation, beneficiaries and reporting of nine economic stimulus packages rolled out during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic from Feb 2020 to June 2021.

The nine stimulus packages are the 2020 ESP, Prihatin, Prihatin SME+, Penjana, Kita Prihatin, Permai, Pemerkasa, Pemerkasa+ and Pemulih.

These programmes were worth RM526.3 billion.

“In compiling the data from the ESP speeches, IDEAS found that the monetary value of 96 out of 291 distinct announcements were not disclosed,” it said in a statement.

Government expenditures and foregone revenues, it said, made up more than half of these undisclosed estimates of fiscal impact.

It was also not entirely possible to distinguish the sources of funding for some of the programmes, including subsidies from the government’s earmarked Covid-19 Fund.

While IDEAS commended the efforts taken to provide frequent reporting on the ESPs’ key programmes, the disclosure gaps and inconsistent reporting formats hampered the public’s ability to monitor and hold the government accountable.

“While not all programmes require the attention and resources of weekly reporting, setting a standard schedule of monthly or quarterly reports for less critical programmes would provide more predictability and consistency in the level of information provided.”

It went on to recommend that the government provide digital resources to institutionalise public reporting on implementation for “greater transparency and consistency in disclosure.”

“And this could be done by setting benchmark standards in the Fiscal Responsibility Act when it is introduced.”

Earlier this month, authorities said it was probing the alleged misappropriation of billions of ringgit meant for Covid-19 stimulus packages.