Malaysia’s ability to increase debt level limited

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that the country’s ratio of debt service payments to revenue reached 16.3% in 2021 and based on Budget 2022, it is expected to exceed 18%. “This means that for every RM1 of government revenue, almost 20 sen is used for paying interest on debts, and this is apart from the ability to repay the principal amounts on loans taken by the government,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday. (File pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s ability to increase its level of indebtedness is limited, compared to developed nations, with much lower debt service ratios.

This was announced by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who added that the country’s ratio of debt service payments to revenue reached 16.3% in 2021 and based on Budget 2022, it is expected to exceed 18%.