KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The country’s new debt has gradually reduced despite continuing polemics on the national debt position, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said this reduction is important because as long as a fiscal deficit exists, the total amount of debt will continue to rise.
“The fiscal deficit indeed poses a challenge. The first Madani Government is trying to reduce the fiscal deficit and new debt even though it remains a never-ending political polemic. Why do we need to lower the deficit? If we don’t, the debt will balloon.
“We brought it down from 5.6 per cent (of gross domestic product, GDP) to 5 per cent (in 2023), followed by four per cent, and now we are projecting 3.8 per cent (this year) and a continued reduction for the following year,” he said when tabling the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) in the Dewan Negara today.
He said the increase in overall debt was due to the interest burden from legacy debts, not from new borrowings, and the records clearly show that new debt has decreased.
Anwar added that the government remains committed to reducing the fiscal deficit gradually with the target of reaching 3 per cent of GDP in the next five years, and bringing down the debt level to no more than 60 per cent of GDP.
