By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 31: The unity government has successfully reduced the country’s debt commitments from RM99 billion in 2022 to RM76.8 billion in 2024, driven by transparent and disciplined fiscal reforms implemented over the past three years.
When presenting the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) in the Dewan Rakyat, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the achievement reflects the government’s strong commitment to managing the fiscal deficit and strengthening national finances through bold yet prudent measures.
“This is a policy of fiscal responsibility. As a result, new debt commitments were reduced from RM99 billion in 2022 to RM92.6 billion in 2023, and further to RM76.8 billion in 2024,” he said in his speech text today.
He stressed that this refers specifically to new borrowings, and that the total national debt, along with inherited interest payments, must still be serviced.
Anwar also highlighted a consistent decline in the fiscal deficit, from 5.5 percent in 2022 to 5.0 percent in 2023, and further to 4.1 percent in 2024.
“The government is targeting a 3.8 percent deficit for 2025.
“The government inherited over RM1 trillion in debt, and it is responsibly managing the burden without compromising the people’s well-being,” he said.
Quoting a Malay proverb, Anwar likened the government’s careful approach to “pulling a strand of hair from a pile of flour without breaking the hair or scattering the flour”.
He said the fiscal reforms have enabled the government to retarget subsidies, increase revenues, and systematically optimise spending.
On the broader economic front, Anwar said Malaysia’s economy is projected to grow at an average rate of 5 percent annually from 2021 to 2025, with inflation remaining low at just 1.1 percent as of June 2025.
He added that approved investments from 2021 to 2025 have reached a record-high of RM1.29 trillion, driven by strong domestic demand and investor confidence in Malaysia’s sound fiscal policies. — DayakDaily
