KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stated that the country's debt will continue to rise unless the deficit is reduced.
He said that as a result, the government has implemented strict and gradual measures to consistently reduce the deficit rate from 5.5 per cent in 2022 to five per cent (2023), followed by an estimated 4.3 per cent (2024) and a projection of 3.8 per cent (2025).
"In other words, the amount of new debt is expected to decrease from around RM100 billion in 2022 to over RM90 billion (2023), and then estimated at RM85 billion (2024) and a projection of RM80 billion (2025).
"It is even more significant that reducing the deficit and new borrowing gradually each year will enable us to achieve the medium-term Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) target of a fiscal deficit of three per cent and a debt level below 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," he said while presenting the Malaysia Madani Budget 2025 in Dewan Rakyat, today.