Government's Financial Position Getting Stronger: Malaysian Treasury Sec-Gen

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is confident that the Malaysian government's financial position would continue to be stronger to ensure sustainable development for the well-being of the people. Its secretary-general, Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said the country's positive economic prospects would be able to support fiscal reform measures as planned. He quashed a news portal report quoting the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) as saying that the government's revenue was low in the first quarter of this year while its debt had exceeded the ceiling of 55 per cent. Describing the report as misleading, he said on the contrary, the government's financial position was getting stronger. "The government has managed to reduce the fiscal deficit from 6.7 per cent relative to the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009 to 3.9 per cent in 2013. "The government will ensure that the fiscal deficit relative to the GDP would continue to decline to 3.5 per cent in 2014 and a balanced budget is achieved in 2020," he said in a statement Wednesday. In the report, MIER executive director Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid advised the government to take more serious approaches, particularly spending prudently to offset the situation. On the country's debt, Mohd Irwan Serigar said it was estimated to be at 54.2 per cent of the GDP at the end of 2014, lower than the 55 per cent ceiling set by the government. With consolidation measures and fiscal deficit reduction taken, he said the debt ratio relative to the GDP would continue to decrease over the years. On economic growth, he said the country recorded an impressive growth of 6.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2014 and expected to between five and 5.5 per cent for the year as projected, he added. --BERNAMA