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KUALA LUMPUR: Auditor General Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid has expressed concern that 59.9% or RM82.723 million of new federal government loan receipts for financial year 2019 have been used to settle debts.
Ideally, he said, this would be used for development purposes and to create a multiplier effect in generating economic growth.
“Only a small portion, which is 29%, was channeled to the development fund, which is worrying… development expenditures must be used more productively so that the projects that we (the government) finance have a greater multiplier effect to generate economic growth, “he said. at a press conference in the Parliament building today.
He said that through development projects, the government could collect taxes that could be used to pay the interest and principal on the loans in question.
According to him, in 2034 the government is expected to reimburse RM10 billion for that year alone.
“In 2034, we have to return 10 billion ringgit, which means a significant increase … we have to be ready even though it is still a long way off, we have to be ready with huge income economic activities to meet the repayment commitment (the debts), ”he said.
Nik Azman said that the development allocation for financial year 2019 was used, among other things, to pay off the past due debts of 11 state-owned companies in the form of grants.
The companies were DanaInfra Nasional Bhd with an allocation of RM1.5 billion; Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (RM 1 billion); Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (0.327 billion ringgit); KL Bhd International Airport (RM0.082 billion); TRX City Sdn Bhd (RM0.066 billion); MKD Kencana Sdn Bhd (RM 0.05 billion); and SRC International Sdn Bhd (RM0.388 billion).
“The two companies that did not have development projects were Suria Strategic Energy Resources and SRC International but they were using development allocations,” he said, adding that the allocation must be channeled in the form of a loan or advance that must be repaid.
However, he said that the use of the money did not violate Section 8 of the Loan Guarantee Act of 1972, but did not reflect actual accounting ethics in terms of auditing.
Regarding this, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Wong Kah Woh, said that the committee had heard a report from the auditor general on the financial status of the federal government for 2019 presented today in Parliament.
“In the presentation that lasted almost three hours, the PAC was thoroughly informed about the general financial status of the federal government that ends on December 31, 2019 to show the real and accurate financial situation of the federal government with its updated and maintained accounting records of orderly manner, ”he said.
