TTF: Here’s the thing, Lim – if you’re so bent on convincing us that the national debt is RM1 trillion, why not provide us with the facts and figures? Did it not occur to you that the rakyat is free to check the national debt online by following THIS link or perform the necessary arithmetics using legitimate data found in THIS Bank Negara link? I mean, what’s all this fuss about you-say-I-say, Lim? Have you forgotten what I told you on the 24th of May 2018?
On that day, I wrote (in orange):
What is more important than the national debt is the ability for the federal government to fulfil its obligations (interests and principals). That ability is reflected in the Debt-to-GDP ratio or the ratio of the national debt to the country’s Gross Domestic Product. For those of you who don’t already know, the GDP is the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced by the country in a given period of time.
Our GDP is typically measured using a combination of methods that factor in the sum of income distributed among primary producers. The higher the value of the sum, the higher would be the level of our progress given our capacity to create more value on demand. That easily translates into higher income capacities and the ability of our government to service all its debt.
So how could you even call yourself a Minister of Finance when your focus is only the national debt? Are you really that illiterate, Lim, or did Moody’s estimate of the Debt-to-GDP ratio slip by you yesterday? Did nobody tell you you that the credit rating corporation rubbished your 80% claim by announcing that the ratio stood at a healthy 50.8% (READ HERE)? Do you even read the news, Lim, or are your only sources of information the Sarawak Report and Malaysia Chronicle?
And what about the free tolls you promised us or the GST abolishment you spoke of (and don’t give me that 0% bullshxt)? Are you so dumb to think that the people are not aware what’s going on? Did it not occur to you, that the minute a Third Force rises, you guys are going to be as flat as the pancakes my aunt makes me for breakfast?
KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is wasting his time denying the true state of the nation’s finances.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said there were many debts which the previous government had guaranteed which now had to be borne by the present leadership.
“Najib is always stressing on the direct debt which stands at RM687 billion, or 50.8 per cent (of gross domestic product), but the present government has to bear also the government-guaranteed debts of the previous administration,” he said.
Citing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as an example, Lim said the strategic investment company was unable to service its loans and the government was now forced to bear the costs.
“1MDB is now bankrupt. So, who has to pay all its debts? Of course, the government has to,” he told reporters after attending a buka puasa charity function organised by Country Heights Holdings Bhd.
Lim said he was disappointed with Najib for refusing to admit that the national debt was RM1 trillion.
“We don’t want to hide the truth. We must be brave in facing facts so that we can, together, settle the huge debts that have been accrued,” he said.
Moody’s earlier maintained its estimate of Malaysia’s direct government debt at 50.8 per cent of GDP in 2017.
It had said its assessment of contingent liability risks posed by non-financial sector public institutions has also not changed following some statements by the new federal government.
Source: NST Online
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