ISKANDAR PUTERI: The state government tabled the Johor Budget 2025 with a surplus of RM5.12 million at the Johor State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.
The budget, which is themed “Maju Johor, Rakyat Sejahtera”, is the third consecutive surplus budget presented by Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
He said the state government expects a revenue of RM2.005 billion next year, while expenditure is estimated at RM1.999 billion.
“Of the expenditure estimate, a total of RM1.271 billion is allocated for operating expenses while a total of RM728 million is allocated for development expenses.
“The Johor Budget 2025 was drawn up by adhering to the principle that all planning and implementation is for the welfare and well-being of Bangsa Johor,“ he said when tabling the Johor Budget 2025 in Kota Iskandar today.
Onn Hafiz, who is also the state assemblyman for Machap, said the budget will focus on six thrusts of the Maju Johor agenda, with 244 initiatives.
He said that as a result of collaboration among several state and federal government agencies, Johor has recorded revenue receipts exceeding RM2 billion for this year, which is the highest recorded in history.
“Thank you to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the federal government for announcing the allocation of RM4.8 billion for the development expenditure of the Fifth Rolling Plan (2025) under the 12th Malaysia Plan for Johor, which includes 143 new projects and 433 extension projects,” he said.
According to Onn Hafiz, Johor’s economy continues to show encouraging performance, registering a growth of 4.1 per cent in 2023, surpassing the national growth of 3.6 per cent, with a gross domestic product value of RM148.2 billion in 2023 compared to RM142.4 billion in 2022.
“This encouraging performance is also marked by a 16 per cent gain in imports to RM290 billion compared to last year, as well as an increase in total imports and exports of RM561.6 billion, making Johor the second largest contributor to national trade.
“In addition, the construction sector continues to post encouraging growth with a value of RM17.1 billion compared to RM10.8 billion in the same period last year, with the unemployment rate remaining at a low rate of 2.3 per cent in the third quarter of this year,“ he said.
He added that within two years, Johor has attracted investments amounting to RM113.7 billion, thus generating more than 35,000 new job opportunities, while the Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ) and Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) initiatives are expected to generate over 100,000 job opportunities.
