KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): Transparency International Malaysia (TI-Malaysia) said greater transparency and scrutiny in reporting expenditure, both operating and development expenditure, in the public sector is needed, in order to reduce wastage.

In a statement on Thursday, it said the government had stated its desire to increase the revenue base for the country and rationalise subsidies, with the intention to channel savings for development projects that benefit the rakyat.

While the government works to rationalise subsidies, every effort must be made to ensure that the national budget is transparent, TI-Malaysia said.

"While a budget would have been determined after closely examining a project’s associated costs, equally important are its needs analysis and cost benefits," it said, adding that this is more so for large infrastructure projects or so-called megaprojects, where approval by Parliament should only be made after the responsible ministry or agency has presented the projects needs analysis and cost benefit reports.

It noted that questions will be raised on how budgets for projects are derived or why a particular project was deemed necessary in the first place, if data on the cost benefit and needs analysis reports on such projects is not publicly available.

TI-Malaysia repeated its call for the implementation of the Integrity Pact, with independent oversight in addressing issues of over-specification, wastage, leakage and cost overruns in public-sector projects, especially megaprojects.

"The savings and reduced costs can be channelled to much-needed areas, such as healthcare, education and welfare," it said.

TI-Malaysia said regular monitoring and reporting can go a long way to addressing potential corruption red flags before they occur. Preventive action should be the government’s priority, instead of addressing issues only after the Auditor General’s Report is issued or with the Public Accounts Committee taking action, it added.