RM 407 Billion Debt and NO WORRIES????
Masterwordsmith
The Malaysian Insider carried a press statement by Bernama HERE which said:
The country’s debt last year amounted RM407.1 billion or 53.1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is no cause for worry, Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Awang Adek Hussein said of the amount, RM390.4 billion or 96 per cent was internal while RM16.7 billion or four per cent was external debt.
“Concern should be on foreign debt but at only four per cent, it is not worrying. Our GDP ratio is much lower than others including developed countries,” he said when winding up debate on the ministry’s Supplementary Supply Bill (2010) 2011.
Awang Adek said the debts were from loans to finance the deficit and finance development projects. The loans will generate revenue to the government as it is an investment.
“The returns will be higher. This is normally the case except during an economic slowdown.”
Feeling curious, I surfed the net for more data and this is what I found – a different set of figures.
According to Index Mundi HERE:
Debt – external: $72.6 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
$67.4 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Year External Debt Ranking Percentage Change
2003 $47,500,000,000 20
2004 $48,840,000,000 24 2.82 %
2005 $53,360,000,000 25 9.25 %
2006 $52,000,000,000 38 -2.55 %
2007 $57,770,000,000 37 11.10 %
2008 $53,090,000,000 45 -8.10 %
2009 $75,330,000,000 42 41.89 %
2010 $58,790,000,000 49 -21.96 %
2011 $72,600,000,000 43 23.49 %
CLICK HERE to see the World Bank Fact Sheet.
CLICK HERE to see the Bank Negara Version which matches the Bernama statement.
THIS LINK shows that our external debt is increasing.
Note the breakdowns for short-term, medium term and long-term debts. Cross compare on your own to see if the figures MATCH or tally!
