The Minister of Finance Inc's (MOF) decision to purchase the controlling stake in Malaysia Airlines from Tajudin Ramli for RM1.792 billion raises some interesting issues as to how the government is going to disclose its holding in MAS in the national accounts.

MAS has now, again, become a non-financial public enterprise (NFPE) and its borrowings of almost RM9 billion will have to be included in the overall public sector debt, as are the borrowings of TNB and Telekom.

So too will MAS' losses, which are likely continue into the coming year. The losses will add to the overall public sector deficit, as will the financing costs, if any, incurred in the deprivatisation of the national airline.

In the event that a buyer is found for MOF's stake, it is unlikely that the buyer is going to pay the RM8 per share MOF has paid and thus MOF is likely to incur a loss on the sale.

This loss too will have to show in the national accounts; perhaps it will not be shown as a loss, something along the lines of "expenses incurred in helping Tajudin" might be as, if not more, accurate.

Bear in mind that the Budget surplus or deficit announced in Parliament each year does not include the entire public sector expenditure; NFPE costs and other related ones are excluded, just like NFPE debt is disclosed separately from overall public sector debt.

And is there anything wrong with this practice? Readers are left to judge this for themselves from the remarks of the then Secretary-General of the Treasury, Clifford Herbert, in 1994, who in correcting me, said, "Tenaga and Telekom are not privatised , they are corporatised; MAS and the roads are privatised."

That statement took me and all others assembled at the 1994 Economic Report press briefing by surprise; safe to say that we reacted like the general public would have.