Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua says treasurer-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah did not tell the whole truth when dismissing his (Pua’s) claim that Non-Financial Public Corporations (NFPC) were a "time bomb" for the Malaysian budget.

In a statement, Pua quoted Irwan's response to his earlier warning, issued in response to Budget 2017 tabled last Friday, that a time bomb was hidden in the depths of the government's Economic Report.

"Why didn’t Tan Sri Irwan Serigar point out the fact that Prasarana’s RM13 billion of debt and mounting expenses have only increased and that it requires annual government grants to keep the company afloat?

"Why didn’t he point out that MRT Co is undertaking a RM22 billion investment for the current Sg Buloh-Kajang line and is planning another RM26 billion MRT II line, which is financed almost entirely with debts which are never likely to be repaid without future government support?" Pua asked.

Irwan had, among others, said that GLCs like Petronas and Khazanah made huge investments and that there were also profit-making entities like Tenaga Nasional and Telekom, besides the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension projects.

Referring to the list of 29 NFPCs cited by Irwan, Pua said Irwan was being "extremely disingenuous" by citing only the big public-listed companies as examples.

"Out of the list of 29 companies, there are also other companies that are generally well-managed and would have no problems servicing their financial obligations, such as Axiata and Petronas.

"However, there are many other entities among the 29 that are nothing other than vehicles for government expenditure, which more likely than not will never generate sufficient income to service their loan obligations," Pua said.

'Inconclusive list of companies'

He also pointed out that the list of 29 NFPCs had left out a number of other government-owned companies that heavily commit the federal government to meeting their obligations for many years to come.

"This list will include PFI Sdn Bhd, which took a RM30 billion loan from EPF to carry out general public infrastructure works, Pembinaan BLT with a RM10 billion debt to build police stations nationwide, and of course the more recently controversial companies such as 1MDB and SRC International," he said.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan also took to Twitter and similarly dismissed Pua's earlier warning.

"Obviously economic time bomb didn't explode. Now he is claiming NFPCs (Non-Financial Public Corporations) are an economic time bomb too!" Rahman said in the last of his series of tweets.

"If Tony Pua's prediction of a time bomb was true, then investors won't touch Malaysia's long-term bonds, which as they stand now, have positive yields!

"While NFPCs' spending has grown by leaps and bound over the years, Tony Pua must know that the percentage has not changed much against GDP," said Rahman, the MP for Kota Belud.

He also pointed out that NFPCs have been set up since 1990 and their records were never hidden from public scrutiny, as insinuated by Pua.