Kota Kinabalu, Monday, 1 December 2025
The tabling of the 2026 budget later this month will be the first test of how the re-elected Sabah government tackles the 40% net revenue claim.
With the High Court judgement on the 40% on the side of Sabah, it is now incumbent on the Sabah government to put in its 2026 budget what amount that Sabah expects to claim from the Federal government and what amount that Sabah is expected to receive in the year 2026. To fail to do so will be seen by Sabah people as a complete dereliction of duty that negates the force of the High Court judgement.
It is very safe to assume that, by now, the Sabah government already has its own data and calculations on the quantum of the 40% revenue on an annual basis. As for the 48 “lost years,” this figure might take more time to work out but the Sabah Finance Minister must state in clear and precise terms that the Sabah government will claim the full amount of the 48 “lost years.”
What PM had said
The Sabah government is likely to find itself in a tricky situation because the Prime Minister has already publicly declared that the Federal government spends RM17 billion per year in Sabah but collects only RM10 billion per year from Sabah. Simple arithmetic by counting with only our ten fingers means that the Prime Minister is saying that the federal government does not own a single cent to Sabah. Then, what will happen to the RM600 million per year that the federal government has been paying to Sabah, supposedly as “interim payment “?
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
SAPP President
Ex-Chief Minister