National debt stands at RM979.8bil, Parliament told

 

Malaysia’s national debt as of last December amounted to 63.4% of the gross domestic product, says deputy finance minister Shahar Abdullah.

KUALA LUMPUR: The national debt is at RM979.8 billion as of the end of last December, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy finance minister Shahar Abdullah said the national debt amounted to 63.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Replying to a question by Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) during ministers’ question time, he said the ratio of the federal government’s statutory debt included that in the Malaysian Government Securities, Malaysian Islamic Treasury Bills and Malaysian Treasury Bills, which is 59.7% of GDP.

However, the percentage is still under the 65% GDP limit set in the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Act 2020 (Amended 2021), he said.

Shahar also said the national economy improved by 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with the corresponding quarter of 2020.

In terms of economic development on a monthly basis, he said, the GDP continued to record a positive growth rate of 2.6% in December, following robust growth in November and October, at 5.4% and 2.7%, respectively.

“The momentum of economic growth is backed by the effectiveness of the National Covid-19 immunisation programme (PICK) that enabled the reopening of more economic sectors as well as the continuation of social activities in the fourth quarter of 2021,” he said.

“Overall, the GDP in 2021 recorded a growth of 3.1% compared with a decline of 5.6% in 2020. This performance is in line with the finance ministry’s official projection of between 3% and 4% during the presentation of Budget 2022 (last year).”

Shahar said the economic recovery since 2021 was expected to bring the GDP growth rate back to pre-pandemic levels.

The growth would be driven primarily by measures under Budget 2022, which are expansionary in nature, the normalisation of economic and social activities following the high vaccination rates, the continuation of infrastructure projects with high multiplier effects, as well as strong demand from the major trading partners.

“At the moment, the government has maintained the projections of the economic growth for 2022 to be around 5.5% and 6.5%, which is in line with the latest projection set by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are 5.7% and 5.8%, respectively,” he said.

Responding to an additional question from Ahmad on household debt, Shahar said the rate as of the end of 2021 was at 89%, which was a reduction of 4.2% from the end of 2020 (93.2%). The household debt rate for 2017, 2018 and 2019 were at 82.6%, 82% and 82.7%, respectively.

He also said the government was enforcing the loan application limit set in 2012 to ensure that Malaysians would not apply for loans beyond their financial capabilities.

He urged those with poor financial planning to seek counselling from the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), when asked about the government’s steps to address debt repayment problems. - FMT