Dr M: Malaysia did not have high national debt during my tenure

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (centre) after attending the Question Time session at Dewan Rakyat on Monday. -Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia was not plagued by high national debt in the 1980s and 1990s after taking a soft loan credit from Japan, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He defended the move, saying that official figures from the annual financial reports showed that debt at that time did not exceed RM300bil, and were only 27% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).