PUTRAJAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng confirms that Malaysia’s debt has surpassed RM1 trillion, contributed by the 1Malaysia Development Bhd financial scandal and mega projects by the previous government.
“Based on the information consolidated from various ministries, so far I am able to confirm the country's debt is above RM1 trillion,” Lim said.
“It is much higher than what the previous government had disclosed. This volume of debt is very much contributed by the 1MDB financial scandal and mega projects by the previous government,” he told reporters in a briefing here today.
As of June 2017, data from the Ministry of Finance revealed that the federal debt stood at RM685.1 billion.
Yesterday , Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia’s debt had surpassed RM1 trillion and that important measures would be taken for the nation to quickly recover from the situation.
Dr Mahathir also pointed out that the country only used to have debts of around RM300 billion when he was the prime minister between 1981 and 2003.
Lim concurred with Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali earlier statement that mega projects by the previous Barisan Nasional government had contributed to the Malaysia's debt of more than RM1 trillion.
When asked if the new government would review all mega projects approved by the previous government, Lim said: “Yes, we need to carry out reassessment of these mega-projects carefully as they contribute to our country's debt.”
Analysts expected the projects to include the East Coast Rail Link, Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Railway and Mass Rapid Transport Line 3.
*Reports by: AZURA ABAS, HAZWAN FAISAL MOHAMAD and OOI TEE CHING