KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has defended the government’s travel abroad despite an austerity drive, while maintaining protection of key health services from budget cuts.
In response to CodeBlue’s article headlined “Ministers, Officials Go Around The World On 50 Trips In 50 Days”, the government clarified that cost-saving measures weren’t intended to halt all official travel.
“Rather, they are targeted fiscal management measures designed to help absorb part of the sharp increase in subsidy expenditure resulting from the West Asia crisis, which has driven up global oil prices,” said MOF in a statement yesterday.
Due to surging fuel subsidies, the MOF said among the cost-cutting measures it introduced for the government was limiting official overseas travel to pre-scheduled commitments, mandatory meetings, and matters that were “genuinely essential and strategically beneficial to the country”.
“As emphasised by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, these expenditure-saving measures are being implemented without affecting critical public services, including the health and education sectors.”
CodeBlue reported last Wednesday that ministers, deputy ministers, and high-ranked civil servants from 22 ministries – besides Anwar and Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar – went on 50 overseas trips in 50 days from May 1 to June 19 this year, on the back of deep health budget cuts.
Their travel to 48 cities and 24 countries – including the United States, France, Türkiye, China, and Japan – were mostly for international meetings or conferences. National Unity deputy minister R. Yuneswaran travelled to Chennai, India, to present awards at a film awards ceremony.
MOF insisted yesterday that no restrictions have been imposed on the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) workforce recruitment plans, procurement of medicines or medical equipment, or delivery of health care services to the public.
“In fact, amid uncertainty in global supply chains, the MOH, together with the National Economic Action Council (MTEN), has conducted a rapid audit to ensure that supplies of medicines and critical medical equipment remain adequate and that any risks of supply disruption can be identified at an early stage,” said MOF.
“For 2026, the MOH aims to recruit more than 18,000 health care personnel, comprising 4,500 medical officers, more than 3,500 nurses, and nearly 1,000 assistant medical officers, in line with the original plan and without any reduction compared to 2025.
“The allocation for medicines has also been increased to RM6.5 billion in 2026, compared with RM6.0 billion in 2025. This demonstrates that the expenditure-saving measures have not affected the government’s priority of ensuring that the people continue to receive quality health care services.
“For the subspecialty training programme, 400 training places have been allocated, with funding of RM24 million for 2026 compared with RM21.8 million in 2025.”
MOF stressed that certain official visits couldn’t be postponed because they involved national strategic importance, citing Anwar’s recent travel to Turkmenistan and Russia that yielded positive outcomes in strengthening Malaysia’s energy security and diversifying the country’s long-term energy supply sources at a time when global markets remained uncertain.
“Similarly, Malaysia’s participation in various international meetings and forums on trade, energy, health, defence, and regional cooperation is important for safeguarding national interests, strengthening ties with strategic partners, and ensuring that Malaysia continues to have access to supplies, investments, and economic opportunities,” said the MOF.
“Therefore, official visits should not be assessed solely on the number of trips undertaken, but rather on their purpose, necessity, and the outcomes achieved for the country and its people.”
The MOF did not specify the cost of the government’s 50 overseas trips.
In a separate statement yesterday, the MOH said the MOF’s operating expenditure restriction warrant issued on June 5 for the Health Ministry amounted to only RM500 million.
“This restriction warrant is a technical adjustment to surplus allocations for vacant positions that cannot be filled this year, and it does not affect the 18,641 posts approved by the Public Service Department (JPA) for MOH for 2026,” said the MOH.
“This restriction does not involve the ministry’s operational allocations or asset procurement. This means that the allocations for the procurement of medicines, vaccines, medical supplies, hospital maintenance, as well as the daily operations of clinics and public health facilities, will continue as normal.
“MOH’s training allocation is also unaffected and programmes for the development of expertise and human capital will proceed according to the original plan.”
The MOH said in a statement last Saturday that it had so far only approved 307 subspecialty training places out of 400 slots for the 2026/2027 intake. This is fewer than 395 approved places last year.
MOH secretary-general Hasnol Zam Zam Ahmad previously wrote in a May 25 circular that the creation of new positions has been frozen, besides imposing stricter controls on overtime allowance claims, medicine usage, and laboratory testing. He had also cited MOF’s suggestion of a hiring freeze for unfilled positions.
Even as the MOH’s statement yesterday described initial reports of an RM3.06 billion health spending cut as “inaccurate and misleading”, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad himself announced on May 1 that he expected a 10 per cent cut to MOH’s 2026 budget, equivalent to RM4.65 billion.
Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs), led by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), protested outside Parliament last Tuesday against the proposed RM4.65 billion cut, as they submitted a memorandum to a few MPs and MOF officials.
