PUTRAJAYA, May 31 — The federal government will review, defer and renegotiate at least RM10 billion worth of identified high-cost projects as part of the reallocation of expenditure priorities, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

These include projects that were awarded via direct negotiation or a limited tender exercise, some of which can be revoked.

Speaking at a press conference here, Lim said in the long term, the government would save billions of ringgit when these projects were re-tendered or scrapped altogether.

He cited as an example a RM350 million contract that was awarded to carry out renovation and rehabilitation of Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur.

Lim said the review would also cover non-essential operating expenditures such as professional and consulting services, refurbishments, events and promotional activities, selected information and communications technology systems upgrading, and certain big-ticket budget allocations for mega projects such as the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail and the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 3.

Other expenditure items, such as special projects under the Implementation Coordination Unit, capital injections to various funds, transfers to the authorities of the various development corridors and projects paid for under the facilitation fund, would also be reviewed, he added. — Bernama