Federal debt amounts to RM980 billion, House told
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AS at end-2021, federal debt stood at RM979.8 billion, or 63.4% of the GDP, Deputy Finance Minister II Mohd Shahar Abdullah told parliament today.
Statutory debt, comprising Malaysian Government Securities (MGS), Malaysian Government Investment Issues (MGII), and Malaysia Islamic Treasury Bills (MITB) stood at 59.7% of the GDP.
Shahar said the statutory debt was below the 65% debt threshold as approved by parliament under the Temporary Measures for Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Amendment Act 2021 Bill.
In its 2022 fiscal outlook, the Finance Ministry said the federal government debt was projected to reach 66% of GDP by the end of 2022, while statutory debt was expected at 63.4%.
The deputy minister said the economy grew 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to -3.4% in the same period of 2020.
“The GDP continued to record positive growth of 2.6% in December, following encouraging growth rates of 2.7% and 5.4% in October and November 2021,” he said.
GDP growth for 2021 stood at 3.1% compared to -5.6% in 2020.
Shahar said growth momentum was supported by the successful Covid-19 vaccination campaign which had allowed the economy to reopen and social activities to resume.
He said Putrajaya has also adopted a medium-term fiscal framework as a guide for budgetary planning for the next three years.
“In addition, the enactment of the fiscal responsibility act is expected to strengthen governance, transparency, public financial management, and fiscal discipline,” he said.
The deputy minister was responding to Ahmad Maslan (Pontian-BN) who asked the MOF for the latest data on the country’s economic growth, fiscal situation, and government debt. – March 21, 2022.