Penang’s Finances Staying Strong
By Ong Wooi Leng
January 2020 PENANG ECONOMIC INDICATOR
Since 2008 Penang has experienced fiscal surpluses in its financial account; it achieved as large a sum as RM61.7mil in fiscal surpluses, or 0.1% of Penang’s GDP in 2017 (Figure 1).In the last five years or so, the state has been prudently managing its finances despite the annual threat of projected budget deficit. The state’s actual public expenditure turned out to be lower than its estimated expenditure since 2011. This also shows that the state government is mindful of what...
Ong Wooi Leng
heads the Socioeconomics and Statistics Programme at Penang Institute. Her work lies in labour market analysis and socio-economic development.
