The real test of a budget is not how much it spends. It is who the money reaches, and on what principle.

That question sits at the heart of the Budget 2027 debate by Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, Member of Parliament for Kemaman. Dr Sam built his argument on two ideas, fairness and capacity: “Without fairness, development will not be felt equitably. And without capacity, the promise of development is hard to turn into reality.”

Capacity starts with fiscal space. As Dr Sam pointed out, debt service charges are set to rise from RM57.3 billion to RM61 billion, equal to 16.2 per cent of federal operating revenue. That RM3.7 billion increase is larger than the RM2 billion added to development allocation. In his words, every additional commitment to debt carries an opportunity cost that must be weighed.

Fairness is where his most important proposal comes in: an Inter-State Fiscal and Development Equalisation Formula, built on four variables:
→ each state’s fiscal needs
→ its capacity to generate its own revenue
→ its infrastructure gap
→ differences in the cost of development and public service delivery

Drawing on John Rawls’ idea of justice as fairness and Amartya Sen’s view that justice should be judged by the real outcomes people enjoy, Dr Sam made a simple point. Two states may receive the same allocation, yet differ greatly in their ability to build infrastructure, attract investment and raise incomes. Equal, in other words, is not always fair.

For professionals, this logic feels familiar. We would never run a project, a budget or a team on negotiation alone. We set clear criteria, use objective measures, review regularly and report openly. Dr Sam asks for the same discipline in federal-state relations: allocations based on clear criteria, not administrative discretion, let alone partisan sentiment or political closeness.

He also cited Australia, Canada and Germany as examples, a reminder that formula-based equalisation is far from a radical idea. What Malaysia stands to gain is a system that is objective, consistent and able to hold steady regardless of who governs.

JPro supports Dr Sam’s proposal and believes it deserves serious study by the Federal Government, so that every state can plan its development on criteria it can trust.

Of the four variables, which one do you think should carry the most weight?

#Belanjawan2027 #FiscalFederalism #PublicPolicy #Governance

Full article: https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/800665/khas/pendapat/dr-sam-dan-formula-keadilan-fiskal-membawa-federalisme-malaysia-ke-tahap-lebih-matang