By Alang Bendahara
SHAH ALAM, Nov 3 — Since Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over Selangor at the 12th general election (GE12) in 2008, the state’s financial reserves have grown more than three-fold. This is a testament to a more efficient and transparent administration.
Fourteen years ago, when PH wrestled Selangor from Barisan Nasional (BN), the state had about RM400 million in savings and by the end of that year, the reserves grew to RM1.42 billion.
Fast forward to August 2022 and that figure has reached a record high of RM3.4 billion.
The period of PH rule in Selangor saw the stewardship of three Menteris Besar.
Under the direction of the late Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (2008–2014), the state’s reserves broke the RM3 billion mark. It dwindled to RM2.13 billion under the helm of Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (2014–2018), following his spending deficit of RM800 million in 2018.
Under the leadership of Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari (2018 till present), Selangor’s reserves rose steadily through the first two years of the pandemic before hitting an all-time high in August this year.
Amirudin’s performance has been commendable. Despite having been stung by Covid-19 and the December 2021 floods that saw the state administration fork out millions in cash aid, Selangor’s coffers were not dented.
Previously, Amirudin stated that the state government had spent more than RM15 billion on its people since 2015.
It also introduced the Iltizam Selangor Penyayang programme which is a rebranding of the Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat that offers almost RM600 million to support the less privileged every year.
