KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — The Ministry of Finance (MOF) claimed today that its directive for spending cuts was targeted at “non-critical” operational expenditure, amid public outrage over proposed slashing of the health budget.
MOF said all core expenditures – including basic services, security, health, and education – would continue as approved under Budget 2026.
“This includes core spending for key ministries, such as the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia and the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia, which are among the ministries with the highest allocations in this year’s Budget,” said the MOF in a statement.
A Treasury directive yesterday proposed a cut of RM3.06 billion (about 7 per cent) to the MOH’s 2026 budget, as well as an RM2.39 billion cut to the Ministry of Higher Education’s (MOHE) budget this year, representing the two biggest cuts among all ministries.
MOE – which received the largest allocation under Budget 2026, followed by the MOH – was proposed to cut just RM466 million, less than 1 per cent of its RM66.2 billion budget.
MOHE’s budget of RM18.6 billion is far smaller than MOE; the former’s suggested RM2.39 billion cut comprises 13 per cent of its budget.
Crucially, MOF’s statement today did not withdraw its RM3.1 billion spending cut request to the MOH.
“The expenditure adjustment guidelines include measures such as postponing events, limiting overseas visits and training, saving on utilities, optimising agency reserve funds, and deferring the filling of non-critical positions,” said the Finance Ministry.
“In line with responsible national financial management, these adjustment measures prioritise key areas to create fiscal space to finance targeted assistance and subsidies to protect vulnerable groups and sectors affected by the global supply crisis.”
The Treasury’s directive had said its instruction of delaying new positions and intakes of civil servants wouldn’t apply to critical sectors like health.
If that is still the MOF’s position, it’s unclear whether postponing events, limiting overseas visits, and saving on utilities alone can garner “savings” of more than RM3 billion from the MOH.
In a statement earlier today, Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii told the MOH to disclose where it planned to cut spending.
