National Debt Gradually Repaid To Avoid Disrupting Country’s Development -- PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- The government’s debt is being repaid in stages, following set timelines to ensure the repayment does not disrupt the country’s development, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the government decided to gradually reduce new debt, taking development needs into account.

“We could reduce (the debt) immediately, but the burden would fall on the people. This is why we are reducing new debt from RM100 billion to RM75 billion or RM70 billion,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time (MQT) in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Earlier, Anwar said new government borrowings had fallen to about RM100 billion in 2021, RM99 billion in 2022, RM92 billion in 2023 and RM77 billion in 2024.

The Prime Minister said that the reduction in the rate of national borrowing reflects the government’s ability to continue implementing essential projects.

“These projects include flood mitigation, basic infrastructure, education, health and others.

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“So I don’t think this should be confusing, because when deficit projections fall, it means the debt burden will also decrease,” he said.

Anwar was responding to a supplementary question from Syahredzan Johan (Bangi-PH) about the government’s debt level, which has been said to have exceeded the statutory debt limit of 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), and about external debt, which has been characterised as dangerous.

He elaborated that the government is repaying that debt according to its obligations and on the scheduled dates.

“If the government can maintain this consistently, then our debt will begin to decline from the end of 2028–2029, according to our projections. Therefore, measures to reduce the deficit must be expedited,” he added.

-- BERNAMA