Malaysia not at risk of going bankrupt like Sri Lanka - Zafrul
PARLIAMENT | Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has given assurance that Malaysia is not headed in the direction of Sri Lanka financially.
He said the country's economy was still stable, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressing confidence for continued growth....
PARLIAMENT | Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has given assurance that Malaysia is not headed in the direction of Sri Lanka financially.
He said the country's economy was still stable, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressing confidence for continued growth.
"The IMF has never said that Malaysia is facing economic troubles that could bankrupt the country.
"If we compare our economic indicators with Sri Lanka, it is clear our economy is far more stable than Sri Lanka, so the likelihood of Malaysia going bankrupt like Sri Lanka is very slim," Zafrul (above) told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said the IMF was confident that Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) can grow 5.75 percent this year.
Zafrul was replying to a query by Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) during minister question time on whether Malaysia was in danger of suffering an economic collapse like Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka suffered an economic meltdown which boiled over and led to massive protests this month, resulting in the government being overthrown.
Its foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to zero, and there is a massive fuel shortage.
Govt can’t borrow more money
Despite the projected economic recovery, Zafrul said the country was not generating sufficient additional revenue to justify taking on more debt.
This was in reply to Ahmad asking why the government did not borrow more funds for efforts to help the rakyat.
Like many countries, Malaysia is facing rising inflation.
To temper the impact on the cost of living the government has increased the amount it is spending on subsidies for products such as chicken, eggs, cooking oil and RON95 petrol.
Zafrul said the latest projection is that spending on subsidies will hit RM80 billion, compared to the RM31 billion initially budgeted for under Budget 2022.
In order to offset the rising cost, the government has begun an internal austerity drive, targeting to cut at least 5 percent from the remaining operating costs for ministries and federal agencies.
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