KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is not planning to reduce the tax for crude palm oil anytime soon, although the tax is considered among the highest in the country, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

       He was responding to a supplementary question at the state assembly meeting yesterday by Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe, who asked about the total tax revenue collected from petroleum products in the state since last year.

       Phoong had also asked about fiscal policies, as there was an increase in tax revenue but allocations were reduced for many ministries, and there had been no additional funding for flood mitigation and water shortages.

       To this, Hajiji said that there was still room for suggestions as to how the emergency funds could be distributed.

       Earlier, state assistant finance minister Jasni Daya said that Sabah had collected RM1.385bil petroleum tax as of Nov 28.

       This he said was after the sales tax was imposed in April last year.