2015 government budget gathers critics on execution rates

Lionel Leong (center)

The low execution rates of many projects included in the annual government budget were once more criticized by some lawmakers. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, was at the AL to present the annual result of the 2015 budget execution. Leong had to hear some criticism regarding the execution rates of many of the budgeted projects.
Mak Soi Kun, who was very active during yesterday’s session, was the first to criticize the execution of some of the projects, saying that it “looks like the execution rate was very low in some aspects that are most directly related with the life of the population (…) there are many projects in which the execution rate is of zero [percent].”
“In the sector of public works there are 58 projects in which the implementation was zero. In the area of legal affairs, nine [with the same result and another] four in the area of security,” Mak enumerated.
In reply, Lionel Leong said: “We also share the same concerns about this. It is true that there are many zeros and we have sent letters to the departments regarding this [issue].”
According to the secretary, the departments responsible for such projects will soon provide information regarding those results that could be discussed further by the AL committees.
Zheng Anting and Ng Kuok Cheong also highlighted the issue of poor execution of the budget, with Cheong calling on the need for a mechanism to follow-up on these matters and especially for the “big projects” that in his opinion should pass to a prior approval by the AL.
In general terms, the budget execution for 2015 highlighted ordinary incomes of almost MOP116.1 billion, which represented a reduction of 28.3 percent year-on-year. Regarding the expenses and the execution of the budget, the ordinary expenses reached a total of MOP 80.8 billion in 2015, which represents an execution rate of 85.9 percent. RM