KUALA LUMPUR – The emergency law that gives the prime minister unfettered access to funds will most likely increase Malaysia’s debt, which currently stands at RM975.4 billion, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“That is why it is important for Parliament to reconvene, so that the people’s representatives can monitor the government’s spending,” said the former prime minister in a Facebook post.
He said the debt will be borne by future governments, which will in turn pass the burden on to the people through the imposition of new taxes.
According to the new emergency ordinance, the prime minister, chief ministers and menteris besar can pass supplementary budgets and use consolidated funds without legislative approval while the state of emergency is in place.
“This means the emergency that is being implemented now to curb the spread of Covid-19 has finally been used to provide power to the government to spend at it whims and fancies without adherence to Budget 2021 and Parliament’s approval,” said Najib.
Last month, he said, Putrajaya increased the limit to award projects via direct negotiation from RM20,000 to RM50,000.
Many big projects have been awarded since, either through direct negotiation or limited tender, based on the pretext that they need to be expedited to fight the pandemic, he said.
“That’s why I previously questioned the government’s debt ratio, which has reached 62.2% – more than the 60% limit that was increased from 55% last August.
“Prior to today’s announcement, the government’s new borrowing rate was vibrant, and the government’s debt was expected to increase to RM975.4 billion by year-end (compared with RM686.8 billion during the Barisan Nasional administration).
“In the first three months of this year alone, the government made new borrowings amounting to RM54.5 billion.” – The Vibes, March 31, 2021
