Finance Ministry top officials were barred from accessing certain "red files" and prevented by the previous BN administration from carrying out their professional duties with integrity.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said he received the complaints during a series of meetings today with all senior Treasury officials, led by deputy treasurer-general Siti Zauyah Mohd Desa.

Since clocking in for his first day in office this morning, Lim said he also met with auditor-general Madinah Mohamad and her team of officers.

"Both of them briefed me on the current status of the nation's finances and the shocking revelation that they were not able to access certain accounts and reports.

"There were also complaints that certain 'red files' were only accessible to certain parties, which impeded officials and auditors from carrying out their professional responsibilities with integrity," he said at a press conference at the Finance Ministry today.

As such, the finance minister said that he has issued a directive that all accounts must now be opened to both the Treasury and the auditor-general, and there is an ongoing process of consolidating previously inaccessible figures.

"It is clear that the previous government has conducted an exercise of deception to the public about certain hot-button items, especially 1MDB, and even misrepresented the financial situation to Parliament," he stressed.

Lim, meanwhile, also confirmed a statement made by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday that the country's national debt has exceeded RM1 trillion.

"Yes, I would like to confirm what Tun said, the debt is indeed above RM1 trillion and I think this (figure) will be reviewed during our discovery exercise when all relevant departments can start consolidating their numbers and accounts.

"Because right now certain accounts and files are not accessible," he said.

When asked about the country's current estimated debt levels, Lim stressed that the figure could be revealed through the ongoing discovery exercise.

"As I said just now we want to make sure there are no more red files.

"Of course most of them are connected to 1MDB but there are also others that would require further discovery," he added.

On whether Harapan intends to introduce any adjustments to Budget 2018 passed by the previous BN administration, Lim similarly said he would first wait to receive more official figures before consulting with the prime minister.

The Finance Ministry previously said the government recorded RM687.43 billion in debts as of September 2017.

Earlier this month, The Edge Financial Daily reported the government's debt had grown at an average of 10 percent a year from RM266.72 billion in 2007 to the RM687.43 billion figure reported by the Finance Ministry a decade later due to excessive spending.