Mahathir Aims to Restore Nation’s Wealth

Mahathir Mohamad, who has said he only wants to be Malaysian prime minister for two years, said the government will prioritize efforts at restoring the wealth and rescuing the nation’s economy within this period. However, he said the two years was not a set time frame, but an aim.

“If possible, in the near term, I want to overcome all the problems we are facing. That is my priority; to restore the nation’s wealth and economy, and make the country one that is progressive, Bernama reported.

“Money is not important if I succeed. What is important is the job satisfaction. This is what I am working towards,” he told Sinar Harian at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Touching on Malaysia’s debt of more than RM1 trillion ($250.7 billion), Mahathir said no country should have debts beyond its means and expressed surprise at how the previous government could have allowed such a thing to happen.

Among the action taken by the former government was accruing a large part of loans from other countries and foreign banks at a high interest rate, as well as from local sources.

Mahathir said in the priority for the government under Pakatan Harapan, the political alliance, was to ensure that the loans can be repaid. “That is why we are not going to spend anymore. We want to reduce (costs). If we are going to repay the debt, we must find ways. It is not the norm to borrow to repay, as the country must not have debts beyond its means. We will spend according to what we can afford,” he added.