KUALA LUMPUR – The federal government’s debt to GDP ratio at the end of November remained below the statutory limit of 60%, according to Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
He told the Dewan Negara today that at the end of last month the debt to GDP ratio was RM818.2 billion or 56.8%.
“The government’s debt status is statutory-based under the Temporary Measures Act for Government Financing [Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)] Act 830 encompassing the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS), Malaysian Government Investment Issues (MGII) and Malaysian Islamic Treasury Bills (MITB).
“This shows that the national debt is within the statutory limit,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Senator Mohd Yusmadi Mohd Yusoff.
To Yusmadi’s original question on public debt from mega projects scrapped by the Pakatan Harapan government, Tengku Zafrul said the present government was obliged to continue with the repayments as set in the agreement.
He added that a number of delayed projects such as the LRT3, the MRT 2 and the ECRL were resumed with refined scope and cost.
“At the same time, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail, the Trans Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP), the MRT 3 and the Multi Product Pipeline (MPP) projects are still in the process of negotiation for resumption,” he said. – Bernama, December 16, 2020
