KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): The government, through the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council Technical Committee, is committed to discussing a new special grant rate for Sabah, in line with Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said.

The ministry said the discussions would factor in the cost of state services and the federal government’s current financial capability.

In line with the provisions of Article 112D, the federal government and Sabah government had jointly conducted an examination and held discussions to review the amount, it said in a written reply posted on the Parliament website on Monday.

“As a result, a new rate of RM125.6 million was agreed on in 2022, which was enforced through the gazetting of the Federal Constitution (Review of special grant under Article 112D) (State of Sabah state) Order 2022 dated April 20, 2022, for five years.

“This replaced the old grant rate amounting to RM26.7 million, which had been gazetted on Sept 18, 1970, as provided under the Sabah Special Grant (First Review) Order 1970,” it said in response to a query from Datuk Matbali Musah (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Sipitang), who wanted to know details of the increase in the special grant for Sabah to RM53.4 million in Budget 2020.

The MOF said the special grant for Sabah was raised further to RM300 million for 2023 through the gazetting of Federal Constitution (Review of special grant under Article 112D) (State of Sabah) Order 2023 on Nov 24, 2023.

“The full payment of the special grant in 2023 has been completed via the distribution to Sabah on Nov 28, 2023,” it added.

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