Govt assets estimated at over RM1 trillion so far - deputy minister

 

The federal government’s assets have been valued at more than RM1 trillion so far, said Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan.

He said the figure was based on the Accountant General’s Department and the Property Valuation and Services Department’s (JPPH) assessment involving government land and buildings made over a period of 10 years since 2013.

He said the value of the government’s assets is expected to continue to rise as the valuation process is ongoing because other assets, including those abroad, have yet to be assessed.

“The calculation covers government land and buildings and does not include other assets such as plants and machinery,” Ahmad (above) said at a press conference after visiting the Johor JPPH office in Johor Bahru today.

“The same goes for overseas assets that have yet to be assessed. We expect it to continue to rise with a RM30 billion increase this year,” he said.

He said the evaluation process is ongoing to identify the value of the government’s assets which is hoped will exceed the RM1.5 trillion national debt.

“I hope the value of our assets is more than our national debt, including liabilities, which has hit RM1.5 trillion.

“However, we are unable to estimate when this evaluation process will end because the review is ongoing. So far, we can only make an estimate,” he said.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was previously reported as saying the national debt, including liabilities, has reached RM1.5 trillion and needs to be dealt with immediately.

- Bernama