PUTRAJAYA (Jan 17): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the ministers’ asset declarations must be made in a responsible and transparent manner, rather than just a political gimmick.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said he is in discussions with various agencies, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, to make the asset declaration process more transparent.
“Declaration of assets was a farce in the past as far as I’m concerned. You can find people having hundreds of millions of ringgit and still declaring RM11 million or RM12 million. So, I think what we need to do is to make sure the parameters are clear.”
He said this when asked whether his Cabinet ministers had declared their assets to him, and when it could be made public during the press conference after the 2023 Budget Dialogue Council themed "Developing a Madani Nation" here on Tuesday (Jan 17).
Saying it was shocking, Anwar said that some of the declarations did not represent the real wealth of the particular persons after looking at the figures and files.
On the status of targeted subsidies, Anwar said follow-up actions had been taken, such as for targeted electricity tariffs for the low- and medium-income groups, as well as for those in the agricultural sector and small and medium industries.
“There have been actions [on targeted subsidies]. Even though the previous government had announced an increase [in tariffs], we have cancelled the plan and taken a new approach.
“We view seriously the Auditor General’s Report on leakages, and we have identified the problems in order to find the solutions,” he added.