KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the “ bloated” Budget 2022 will lead to massive debt.
He said a record RM332.1 billion has been allocated for Budget 2022 when the national income is expected to be only RM234 billion, which is worrying.
Mahathir then said sarcastically that if the general election is held tomorrow, the ruling government will take a huge share of the the cake because the Budget allocates more money to almost everyone and every quarter.
“The total for Budget 2022 is the biggest expenditure in the country’s history. A record but the national income for 2022 is RM234 billion, so where will the extra RM98 billion come from,“ he asked in the Dewan Rakyat.
“We are currently in debt of more than RM1 trillion and with this new debt the total amount would be further increased,“ he said.
“Raising the debt ceiling to 65% will not reduce the debt that has to be paid for decades. That drop is only a percentage of GDP. The amount of debt is not less,” he said.
He then warned the government to be cautious to reduce spending and that the debt should not be passed onto future generations.
“We should not be proud about announcing the largest budget in the country’s history because eventually it will lead us to be in the biggest debt,“ he said.
“Actually the current government needs to be careful not to burden future governments,“ he added.
“In the Budget (2022) there is no mention of reducing spending. There is a possibility of reducing the allocation,“ he when debating Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
At the same time, he said, corruption seems to be the cause of the increase in government allocations.
“Indeed the culture of corruption is back and it will increase the cost that will be borne by the government. Positions that are not important are being created in the government but holders of these positions support the government,“ he said.
“They are given the status of ministers so that their status and income are higher. So the budget and debt increase,“ he said.
He then hoped that the government would revise Budget 2022 to avoid falling into a bigger debt.