KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been told to take corrective measures to control the continuous increase in high national debt.
Auditor General Datuk Seri Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid said gross government borrowings of RM217.201 billion in 2021 made the national debt increase to RM979.814 billion, an increase of 11.4 per cent compared from 2020 and 63.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
He said the situation that resulted in the increase in debt was understandable because last year, part of the loan was used to deal with Covid-19 and economic generation to help affected individuals and companies.
"This increase in debt cannot continue. This should only be a short-term measure.
"In our opinion, the government should take this as a temporary measure and take corrective action so that the increase in debt can be controlled and easily managed," he told reporters in Parliament after the Auditor General's Report on the 2021 Federal Government Financial Statement and 2021 State Government and State Agency Financial Statement was tabled today.
Also present was Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh.
Of the gross borrowings, RM113,764 billion or 52.4 per cent was used to pay the mature principal.
Nik Azman said this was due to an increase in debt and interest payments on the national debt.
"These are new interests. Half of the new debts are used to pay old debts. This cannot continue.
"Although we understand this is a temporary measure, our job as auditors is to highlight it," he added.
Meanwhile, Wong voiced concerns over the trend of increasing federal government debt.
He said even though the government's Financial Statements for 2021 was given the Auditor General's Certificate Without Reprimands, there were things that the AG highlighted to which the government needed to pay attention.
