Putrajaya propaganda unit chief says government debt under RM17 billion

Datuk Puad Zarkashi was appointed to lead Putrajaya's propaganda unit earlier this year following the death of the previous chief Datuk Fuad Hassan in December last year. – The Malaysian Insider pic, June 27, 2015.

Malaysians do not fully understand the new debt calculation method introduced in 2014 and so can be easily misled by certain quarters bent on overthrowing the government, says the Special Affairs Department (Jasa).

Its director-general Datuk Puad Zarkashi said the national debt of RM744 billion includes debts of the private sector, public companies and individuals, with the government debt being just under RM17 billion of that total.

"But the people have not been informed that the method of debt calculation has been changed since 2014, and that the RM774 billion includes debts of the private sector, public companies, individuals and even foreigners who have bought bonds in our country, causing the debt to spiral.

"Actually, government debt is only about 2% or about RM16.8 billion, and it is not so much, but what is clear is that the government does not owe Bank Negara or the IMF any money," he said at a media briefing after a breaking of fast last night with some 80 orphans.

Puad, who is an Umno supreme council member, wasappointed to head Jasa earlier this year, replacing Datuk Fuad Hassan who died of a heart attack in December last year.

Puad said certain quarters are out to confuse the people by producing facts purportedly showing the country will go bankrupt and its economy is not stable.

"If we use the new calculation method, some other countries would have greater debts than we do. For Singapore, for instance, its debt under the new method would be three trillion, for Korea 1.13 trillion and Indonesia 927 billion – all these debts are greater than Malaysia's.   

"In this hyper-connected era, there will be greater opportunities for spreading lies and twisting the facts, which if not responded to immediately, could lead the people to believe in things that are false," he said.

Puad said Jasa will continue to step up efforts to brush off such wild allegations and instead disseminate accurate information to the public.

"Jasa will focus more on enhancing its social media capabilities so that the people are presented accurate information and are not easily misled by certain irresponsible quarters," he added. – Bernama