00:00Check your facts before commenting on the national debt.
00:05This is what Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told his detractors, pointing out that the
00:09country borrows money every year to settle its previous debts, including those from 1MDB.
00:16Anwar said he had been attacked on social media with people accusing him of not providing
00:21the right answers.
00:23The government borrows money every year, to pay debts and for development.
00:30The biggest burden is to pay debts.
00:36Citing the RM48 billion debt from 1MDB as an example, he said today that borrowing to
00:42settle old debts is the biggest burden on the government.
00:46Imagine if we could spend this RM48 billion for development, schools, clinics, universities,
00:55including salary.
01:01This is RM48 billion.
01:03So, is it possible?
01:05I said, oh no, I don't care.
01:07This is an old debt.
01:09I don't care.
01:10I don't want to pay.
01:11No way.
01:13Last week, Anwar said the federal government's debt rose by RM50 billion to RM1.22 trillion
01:19by the end of April this year, compared to RM1.17 trillion at the end of last year.
01:25However, Anwar said the government had reduced its borrowing, noting that this year it would
01:29only borrow RM86 billion, compared to RM100 billion in 2021 and RM93 billion last year.
01:37This reduction is the result of the government's efforts to decrease the deficit from 5.6%
01:42in 2022 to 5% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, he said.
01:49Natasha Bust, FMT News.
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