JOHOR BARU, Oct 1 — Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal hopes the southern state will receive a bigger federal allocation in the upcoming Budget 2020 that will be tabled in Parliament on October 11.

He said a higher development allocation will be timely as Johor will be hosting two major events, namely the Malaysia Games (Sukma) and also Visit Johor Year 2020.

"The cost for the state to host the two major events is high and hopefully the federal government can assist us with the allocation from the upcoming budget,” said Dr Sahruddin today after officiating the Islamic Finance Rendezvous Series 2019 programme at the Grand Paragon Hotel here.

The event is organised by Bank Negara, the Association of Islamic Banking, Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) and the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA).

Dr Sahruddin, who is also the Bukit Keping assemblyman, said he expects Johor to be given a larger allocation for the upcoming Budget 2020 as the state is among the highest contributors for the country’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and income tax revenue.

Based on recent figures, he said Johor has contributed a total of RM136.5 billion, which is 9.6 per cent of the GDP.

"In 2018, the state’s GDP rose to 5.6 per cent, which is higher than the national GDP average, which is at 4.7 per cent,” said Dr Sahruddin, who is also the Bukit Kepong assemblyman adding that with this, Johor should get a better allocation.