The decision came aFocusMfter a Cabinet meeting on May 6, Zuki said in a May 29 letter.
“According to the initial plan, the 12MP document was expected to be presented in Parliament on Aug 6, 2020.
“Due to the current uncertain situation following the Covid-19 crisis, the Cabinet decided to postpone the presentation of the 12MP to early January 2021,” Zuki said.
The chief secretary outlined a few reasons such as the formation fo a new Cabinet and restructuring of ministries which took place in March after Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition ousted Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakatan Harapan (PH).
This was to provide ministries and agencies time to review the policies and strategies under 12MP to ensure that it is in line with the the agenda of the PN government.
Other reasons include the proposed solutions to factor in a Covid-19 recovery plan and the projection of the economy in the next five years based on current conditions.
“The financial position will have to be reviewed after taking into account the new challenges arising post-Covid-19.
“Also, the Ministry fo Finance Finance will continue to monitor the development of oil prices and will recalibrate spending to make up for the decline in revenue.”
The Economic Planning Unit, under the Prime Minister’s Department, will engage stakeholders from June to July this year. This includes an inter-agency planning group meeting, said Zuki.
The chief secretary also requested that ministries, departments, agencies, federal statutory bodies, state governments and local authorities provide full co-operation in executing the plan. – May 30, 2020
