Mahathir Warns About Rising National Debt

Malaysian former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad says “Malaysia’s national debt has already reached up to RM900 billion ($225 billion).” He suggested that if the government fails to pay its debts, “the country could go the way of Greece. We have more debt than Greece, but we are poorer than Greece. Once the government is unable to pay, our country will go bankrupt at any time”, Bernama reported. “The Pakatan Harapan alliance will have solutions for all the national issues, including reviving the economy”, added Mahathir. Malaysia’s opposition coalition recently appointed Mahathir as its PM candidate for the upcoming election. The Malaysian government told a different story. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak denied Mahathir’s claim. “As of the end of June 2017, the federal government’s debt stood at 50.9% of gross domestic product. This was still well below the prescribed 55% limit set by the government…In fact, it does not make sense to say that we would be bankrupt when there are many countries willing to invest and enter into trade agreements with Malaysia.”