This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 23, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government, which has seen revenues fall amid depressed oil prices, is seeking RM5.99 billion in additional expenditure under Budget 2015. Opposition lawmakers deem the “spend first, obtain approval later” move a contempt of Parliament.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong yesterday tabled a supplementary supply bill to augment its Budget 2015 by an additional RM3.31 billion in the Dewan Rakyat for first reading, barely two months after the recalibration of Budget 2016.

“The second reading of the Supplementary Supply (2015) Bill 2016 will be in this sitting,” Chua told reporters at the Parliament’s lobby yesterday.

The bulk of the requested amount — RM2.33 billion — will be channelled into statutory funds, while the rest will be allocated to the urban wellbeing, housing and local government, foreign and transport ministries, Parliament and the prime minister’s department.

The government is also seeking for the Parliament to pass another RM2.29 billion of liabilities as stipulated in the Order Paper 2 Year 2016 (Kertas Perintah 2 Tahun 2016) and a motion for its RM391 million in development expenditure under Budget 2015. The motion would be tabled before the second reading of the bill.

The 2015 budget had allocated a total of RM273.9 billion, an increase of RM9.8 billion compared with 2014’s initial allocation.

A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the total allocation for Budget 2015 will amount to RM279.89 billion if the motions and bill are passed.

Since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak took office in 2009, the government has been tabling two supplementary supply bills every year to seek the endorsement of the Parliament for additional sums spent in a fiscal year — so much so that economists are not surprised with the latest supplementary supply bill for Budget 2015.

They are of the view that the additional expenditure will not affect the country’s fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of gross domestic product in 2015 and 3.1% in 2016.

An economist with a local research house said going forward, the additional expenditure will, however, be strenuous for the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts amid slower revenue boost and softer economic growth as the government strives to achieve a balance budget by 2020.

“That said, we foresee limited positive impact to economic growth considering that the bulk of the additional spending is for supply and liabilities, while development expenditure will only account for RM391 million,” she added.

Another bank-backed economist said the government’s tabling of supplementary supply bills has become a norm. And based on historical trends, the government has been able to meet the fiscal deficit targets despite the supplementary budgets.

“Despite weak commodity prices, revenues are cushioned by the goods and services tax collections and revenue enhancement measures,” she said, referring to the spectrum redistribution, rehiring of illegal workers, controls on the duty-free islands, and Inland Revenue Board tightening up on tax evasion.

Year to date, she noted that the Brent Crude oil index was trading at an average price of US$33 (RM132) per barrel, which is in line with the government forecast of US$30 to US$35 per barrel.

“A potential recovery in oil price in the second half of 2016 would provide some buffer for Malaysia’s fiscal position,” she added.

“In any case, there is always room to improve further on government spending efficiency to ensure fiscal targets are within reach,” the economist said.

PKR Pandan member of parliament Rafizi Ramli said the continuing practice of spending first and obtaining the Parliament’s approval later is a “contempt of Parliament”.

“I have advocated so many times that there should be a half-yearly spending review tabled in Parliament so that any expected increase in expenditure that requires supplement budget can be debated before they are spent,” he told The Edge Financial Daily.

Rafizi said he would look at the existing laws and standing orders to propose a motion or private members’ bill so that there shall be a half-yearly spending review and request for supplemental budget to be done before it is spent.

Ong Ooi Heng, executive director of Political Studies for Change which is a think tank linked to the opposition,  said that ever since Najib took office, the government has been tabling two Supplementary Supply Bills every year, and the additional budget could go up to as much as RM15 billion, but since the end of 2013, this has been controlled at approximately RM5 billion.

“Despite it is normal for the government to table supplementary supply bill, this is not a good practice. This means the government did not do proper budget planning, as they know that they can always go back to the Parliament for additional fund,” he said.

Ooi, who is an observer of parliamentary affairs, said that the government should only table the supplementary supply bill when there is a real need, and not to treat it as a routine every year.