Public sector debt higher at RM1.2 trillion, says finance ministry

Public sector debt higher at RM1.2 trillion, says finance ministry

The largest component of public sector debt is the federal government’s debt of RM854.1 billion.

The guaranteed debt of statutory bodies rose to RM75.7 billion, mainly attributed to additional sukuk issuances to finance housing loans of public sector employees.
KUALA LUMPUR:
Public sector debt till June 2020 increased to RM1.2 trillion or 85.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) due to higher federal government fiscal deficit to finance the Covid-19 pandemic stimulus measures, the ministry of finance said today.

Last year, it was RM1.136 trillion or 75.2% of the GDP.

The largest component of the public sector debt is the federal government’s debt of RM854.1 billion or 69.4% of the total, followed by the liabilities from non-financial public corporations (NFPCs) which account for 24.4% and statutory bodies at 6.2%.

Statutory bodies guaranteed debt rose to RM75.7 billion, mainly attributed to additional sukuk issuances by the Public Sector Housing Financing Board to finance public sector employees’ housing loans, the ministry said in the Fiscal Outlook and Federal Government Revenue Estimates 2021 report released today.

In addition, NFPCs’ debt also increased to RM300.4 billion. This includes additional funding facilities drawdown to finance the capital expenditure in relation to the development of the Mass Rapid Transit project as well as investments in the oil and gas sector.

Public sector debt represents consolidated debts of the federal government, state governments, NFPCs and sovereign-guaranteed debt of statutory bodies.

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