PETALING JAYA: The Finance Ministry has clarified that the federal government’s debt level remains below the self-imposed statutory limit of 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) and only comprises the outstanding value of the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS), Malaysian Government Investment Issues (MGII) and Malaysian Islamic Treasury Bills (MITB).
“When the Finance Ministry reported that, as at end-2020, the statutory debt was RM820.7bil or 58% of GDP, and was projected to reach 58.5% in 2021, the government was referring to the legal definition which includes MGS, MGII and MITB as defined and provided for in the Temporary Measures for Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Act 2020, ” Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz (pic) said in a statement yesterday.