KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on the government to review its allocation to combat Covid-19, among other points of contention, if it hopes to see Budget 2021 passed by Parliament.
Among the main contentions raised by Anwar, who is PKR president, during his debate of Budget 2021 was the purported absence of RM3 billion for the Covid-19 vaccine.
He questioned why the purported aforementioned funds were not included as part of the RM1.3 billion that the government had allocated to combat Covid-19 in the Budget.
“The supposed RM3 billion for the vaccine is not included in the Budget. The finance minister said it was included, where is this RM3 billion?
“Then we have Mosti. The Mosti minister has repeatedly tweeted every day that we received RM3 billion (for the vaccine) but where is this RM3 billion?” he questioned, using the acronym for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Anwar was referring to Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who said he had informed the Finance Ministry to prepare the said amount next year to procure a vaccine for Covid-19.
He also suggested that the government channel RM19 billion from the development budget to the Covid-19 fund.
