BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's Legislative Council unanimously approved a national budget allocation of 5.3 billion Brunei dollars (4 billion U.S. dollars) for the 2018-2019 fiscal year on Tuesday.

The new budget, which was proposed by Second Minister of Finance Mohd Amin Liew, will take effect on April 1.

According to Minister Mohd Amin Liew, the new budget is not enough to cover government spending, which means Brunei will witness 1.54 billion Brunei dollars in financial deficit in 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Compared to previous fiscal year, the new budget has seen no increase in government spending, which is at record low as volatile energy prices weigh on Brunei's oil-and-gas dependent economy.

This year's budget is lower than the 5.6-billion-Brunei dollar budget for the 2016-2017 financial year. The 2015-2016 spending is 6.3 billion Brunei dollars.