KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s overall debt and liabilities stood at RM1.09 trillion at the end of last year, compared with RM1.08 trillion in 2017.
Special Parliamentary Select Committee on the Budget chairman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the national debt stood at RM741 billion at the end of last year, RM54.2 billion higher than the previous year.
He said the funds were used to cover a portion of expenditures for development projects under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP).
“The committee outlined eight recommendations for the government based on (the principles) of good governance, prudence and constant monitoring,” he told a press conference in Parliament today.
“Instead of looking at only debts, the committee scrutinised many aspects through accrual accounting and included liabilities which also covers public-private partnerships (PPP) and government guarantees (GG).”
Asked about claims that Malaysia was on the brink of bankruptcy due to the staggering numbers, he said rather than merely looking at figures, attention should be given to the details, including the ratio of national debt to gross domestic product (GDP), among others.
“Borrowing is common among developing countries, but what’s more important is the country’s ability to repay the debts.
“We have faith that the government would be able to address the recommendations that we have put forth in the report signed by committee members comprising seven MPs,” he said.
The report, among other things, pointed out that the overall government-guaranteed debt was RM266.5 billion (as at Dec 31 last year).
As such, he said the committee had recommended that a review be conducted from time to time to identify those that did not need to be covered by the government and on the possibility of capping the GG.
“For example, the government is servicing almost RM9 billion in loans for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) with money that could otherwise be used for schools and healthcare (public infrastructures and amenities),” he said.
The other recommendations include the periodic tabling of debts and liabilities to provide the actual situation of debts and repayment plans.
“We also recommended that the government carry out comparison analysis on national debt with other countries, especially those from Asean and developed countries, from time to time,” said the Jeli MP.
Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin who was also a committee member said that while the government had been reported as looking into ways to reduce the country’s debts, the measures had not been successful as the numbers had shown.
He also said that claims that the RM1 trillion in liabilities was caused by 1MDB was inaccurate.
“While we acknowledged its RM32 billion debt, it is not the sole contributing factor to the overall national debt.
“It is one of the contributing factors along with others which include various development projects in the country.
“To simplify and conclude that 1MDB is the contributor to the RM1 trillion liabilities is incorrect,” he said.
The full report on the country’s debt and liabilities for 2018-2020 is available www.parlimen.gov.my/e-risalat.