Mydin boss believes Putrajaya can overcome RM1 trillion debt

Ameer Ali Mydin (above), the managing director of hypermarket chain Mydin, believes Putrajaya can overcome the RM1 trillion national debt figure despite the jitters it has caused the financial markets.

Ameer Ali admitted that the figure appears daunting but said it can be pared down by plugging leakages.

"What is most important is to ensure leakages do not happen. If there are none (leakages), the government can save money and pay (its debt).

"The government will be capable of paying its debt as long as leakages can be addressed. We were all aware of the leakages," he told Malaysiakini in an interview.

After Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government via the May 9 general election, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that the country's debt level had exceeded RM1 trillion.

Lim revealed that apart from the official RM686.8 billion in government debt, Putrajaya also had to cover RM199.1 billion in guarantees to government-linked companies that could no longer foot their bills such as 1MDB as well as another RM201.4 billion in lease payments from public and private partnerships.

This, he said, put the total debt at 80.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) instead of the 50.8 percent as officially reported previously.

The government's move to zero-rate the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and its plan to implement targeted fuel subsidies both which will reduce the government's revenue, had caused further concerns.

On a separate matter, Ameer Ali said the government should stop using corporate attire like how the previous government had used the “1Malaysia” corporate shirts with accompanying logos.

"Are we going to change these shirts without a logo? I would suggest that instead of making new corporate shirts, let them (the civil servants) wear batik shirts instead of corporate shirts.

"Instead of importing corporate shirts from China, it is better to help the local (batik) industry which is struggling. It will also help revive the batik industry," he said. - Mkini