PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA — Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed that he was given the mandate to lead under the circumstances where Malaysia’s debt had exceeded RM1 trillion (US$226.6 billion).
Anwar said he had conducted thorough checks on agencies to find leakages; hence what he said is not slander.
“I worked hard to scrutinise all the files, that’s why some projects were delayed, re-examined, or cancelled, ” he added that he did not call out any name because he has no intention to insult any political figure.
Anwar delivered his speech during a gathering with religious figures and religious authority held at Seri Perdana Complex, Putrajaya, on 11 December.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, called out the flood mitigation projects, which is believed that some RM7 billion out of the RM15 billion allocated had been approved and awarded without undergoing tender.
“I called out the flood mitigation project because the flood tormented the people and the victims were the poor and the majority of the poor were Malays, ” he stressed.
“That’s why if we want to spend we have to be careful, this is a matter of governance, managing the country must be with order, rules and in the right direction.”
He said the project was approved spontaneously, with questionable companies, and some questions not being answered.
Anwar had earlier requested the project to be paused and reviewed under his administration.
“Tomorrow (12 Dec), I will go to the Finance Ministry to study this. This matter is true. It was approved but not yet implemented because of the election,” he added.
The flood mitigation project 2030 was announced by the former Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz in October during the tabling of Budget 2023 as part of Malaysia’s long-term strategy to deal with climate change.
Malaysia’s Debt Reached 63.8 Per Cent Of Its GDP
Before Anwar, Tengku Zafrul, in July confirmed that the Malaysia Federal government’s debt up until the end of June 2022 stands at RM1.045 trillion, or 63.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
18.4 per cent of Putrajaya’s estimated total revenue, or RM43.1 billion, was allocated for the federal government’s debt service charges for the year 2022.
By the end of June 2022, RM19.8 billion was spent to pay off the interests of the Malaysia government’s outstanding debt.
