Sarawak and federal government negotiate Special Grant formula

The Sarawak government and the Malaysian federal government have not yet reached a final agreement on a permanent formula for determining the Special Grant under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution. While the interim Special Grant was recently increased from RM600 million to RM1.5 billion, Deputy Minister Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali clarified that this increase is a temporary measure and not a final settlement of the ongoing review.

In the Dewan Rakyat, Kemaman MP Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar advocated for a transparent, needs-based funding formula for all states. He suggested that federal allocations should be determined by specific criteria—including fiscal needs, revenue-raising capacity, infrastructure gaps, and development costs—rather than federal discretion. Mokhtar questioned why the principles of fair funding being negotiated with Sabah and Sarawak are not being applied to states in the peninsula.