MCA jabs at Guan Eng's performance when he was finance minister

 

MCA vice-president Tan Teik Ching has taken a jab at former finance minister Lim Guan Eng’s performance when he was finance minister.

“Lim is responsible for the increase in federal debt which came unsurprisingly with his modus operandi of borrowing a huge amount in loans.

“For example, the issuance of the samurai bond with Japan has plunged the nation into a pit of foreign debts which will be difficult to repay for generations to come,” Tan claimed in a statement yesterday.

He said Lim, who is also the Bagan MP, was "bragging about the Pakatan Harapan government and the positive increase in revenue in 2019" but said there were a few aspects the former minister did not take into account.

Tan said the 2019 Auditor-General’s Report revealed that out of the new loans amounting to RM138.559 billion, almost 60 percent of it, or RM83.05 billion, was used to repay matured debts while only 29.7 percent was used for development.

This practice calls for “serious scrutiny” as it does not make sense to use more loans to cover up existing loans, Tan said.

“At the end of it, debts will accumulate and harm the generations to come. Such a manoeuvre only serves as a facade to prop up their numbers while disregarding the consequences,” he said.

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.

Secondly, he said Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Wong Kah Woh had revealed that the federal government’s debt in 2019 had increased to RM792.997 billion from RM741.048 billion in 2018, which was an increase of RM51.9 billion.

The debt to GDP also stood at 52.5 percent last year compared to 51.2 percent in 2018, which Tan said refutes Lim’s remarks of Harapan improving Malaysia’s revenue.

Tan also stressed that the issuance of the samurai bond exposed Malaysia to the risks of foreign debt which would place the country in a dangerous position.

However, Tan acknowledged that loans were not inherently bad if used to create economic opportunities and to stimulate the market.

“However, to use one debt to repay another is simply outrageous.

“Without a future prospect for the nation’s growth, such a move will not bear any fruit and only delay the inevitable while adding to the eventual crisis,” he said. - Mkini