PUTRAJAYA: The government is working on multi-pronged strategies to boost Malaysia's revenue while ensuring efficient management of public spending.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said there were three different strategies the government was pursuing.
Finding ways to strengthen fiscal position was one of them, and this was to enhance management, governance and accountability in public finances, he added.
Rafizi, who received a courtesy visit from senior Media Prima Bhd management led by group chairman Datuk Seri Syed Hussian Aljunid at his office today, said the fiscal position was a function of revenue and spending.
The government needed to get the best value of its spending, he added.
"For example, this ministry is responsible for long-term development expenditure. We must make sure that the delivery and cost efficiency of each government project is maximised. That's how you save money.
"For example, we can cut wastages. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mentioned that there was at least RM10 billion that we can save from the system by cutting wastages.
"By doing certain things such as relocating and prioritising our spending, we will strengthen our fiscal position in the immediate term," he said.
Rafizi said the second strategy was finding ways to collect more revenue.
"But I think that will take a bit longer for us to consider as the impact is much bigger in the sense that we have to balance between defending the right sectors and making sure that whatever we do, it does not slow down the growth trajectory," he said.
Thirdly, Rafizi said, was to restructure the country's economic activities to boost income.
"We have been talking about the middle income trap for a long time. We need to upgrade the economy to have more high value services and high value companies so that people can earn more. That will subsequently contribute to the national revenue."
On the national debt, Rafizi said it can be reduced by strengthening the country's fiscal position.
He said local economy would be better in the next two to three years, if the fiscal position was stronger.
"The government is not in a state of desperation, we just need to change the country's financial management from now.
"There are things that may not be comfortable, there are things that are less popular, there are things that require change at the government's level.
"We see this as a necessity, because the national debt has indeed reached RM1.5 trillion," he said, referring to Anwar's earlier statement today that Malaysia's national debt including liabilities had reached RM1.5 trillion and that it should be addressed urgently.
The RM1.5 trillion was more than 80 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, Rafizi had discussions on several economic issues with the delegation from Media Prima group.
Also present were The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd group managing editor Datuk Ahmad Zaini Kamaruzzaman, who is also Berita Harian group editor, Media Prima Television Networks and Primeworks Studios chief executive officer Datuk Khairul Anwar Salleh, Media Prima Omnia chief operating officer Mohd Efendi Omar and group corporate communications general manager Azlan Abdul Aziz.
Ahmad Zaini said the discussions included on how Media Prima could foster closer cooperation with the Economy Ministry in a mutually beneficial manner.
"We received very positive feedback from the ministry on how we can help them fulfill or execute their programmes.
"Hopefully, we will have more discussions to fine tune the details of the programmes that will involve both the Economy Ministry and Media Prima," he said.
Ahmad Zaini said Rafizi also expressed interest in taking up Media Prima's invitation to tour the company's operations.