Petronas dividend only 6% of govt revenue in 2026, says PM

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has denied that the federal government is overly dependent on the annual dividends paid by national oil and gas firm Petronas to boost its revenue.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the RM20 billion dividend paid by the company this year only accounted for 5% to 6% of Putrajaya’s expected revenue.

He added that the government is projected to collect a total of RM343.1 billion in revenue, comprising RM270.4 billion in tax revenue and RM72.7 billion in non-tax revenue, with Petronas’s dividend falling under the latter.

“The federal government’s main source of revenue is tax revenue, which represents 70% of the total, while the Petronas dividend only represents 5% to 6%.

“This shows that the federal government is not overly dependent on the performance of Petronas,” he said in a written parliamentary reply to Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas).

Fadhli had asked if the government was too dependent on Petronas since its dividend to Putrajaya was reduced from RM40 billion in 2023 to RM20 billion this year.

Anwar said the government was committed to reducing its dependence on petroleum revenue due to the risk of price uncertainties for crude oil.

He said Putrajaya’s petroleum-related revenue reached its peak in 2009 when it contributed to 41.3% of the government’s total revenue.

“Through various measures implemented from 2023, the composition of petroleum-related revenue was reduced to 17.5% in 2025 from 28% in 2022. For 2026, this is projected to reduce further to 12.5%,” he said.