Malaysia PM Anwar to focus on rising debt in budget; central bank to hike rates to tame inflation
- PM Anwar said country will seek to expedite priority projects while plugging leakages in its 2023 budget review amid rising sovereign debt levels
- Malaysia’s central bank will deliver its fifth consecutive quarter percentage point hike to keep high inflation under check and support the struggling ringgit
The government will prioritise ramping up the nation’s participation in technology and green economy and also focus on boosting small and medium enterprises even as it maintains fiscal discipline, Anwar said at a budget dialogue held in the administrative capital of Putrajaya on Tuesday.
Debt and liabilities are at about 1.5 trillion ringgit (US$346 billion) currently, Anwar said, adding the budget deficit was about 5.8 per cent of gross domestic product in 2022. This year’s fiscal position won’t be comfortable, he said.
“The government must accept this fact, it cannot be businesses as usual, we cannot be content,” he said, adding that the maximum debt service is already approaching a level that’s more than what the country can manage.
Anwar, who doubles as finance minister, is set to put forward the revised 2023 budget to parliament on February 24 against the backdrop of lingering price pressures at home and increasing risks to the global economy. A reformist who heads a multiracial coalition, Anwar has made protecting low- and middle-income groups from rising prices the top priority of his administration.