The federal government’s financial statements for the year ending Dec 31, 2021, show an accurate and fair picture of the government’s financial position for the year in question, said Auditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid.
He said the accounting records were maintained in an orderly and up-to-date manner, in line with the Financial Procedures Act 1957, Government Accounting Standards and the International Public Sector Accounting Standard (Financial Reporting under the Cash Basis of Accounting).
Nik Azman said this in a statement regarding the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) on the financial statements of the federal government, state governments and state agencies for the year 2021, which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today.
However, Bernama cited Nik Azman said attention should be paid to Note 6 on the consolidated loan account, Note 7(a)(i) on the development fund and Note 10(a) on the federal debt.
He said gross loan receipts in 2021 amounted to RM217.201 billion (RM194.555 billion in 2020), an increase of RM22.646 billion or 11.6 per cent.
However, the balance of transfers that have been spent on development expenses amounted to RM40.99 billion, which in terms of percentage has decreased to 65.8 per cent compared to 77.3 per cent in 2020.
“Funds from loan sources transferred to the Development Fund need to be optimised to finance physical development projects that contribute to the formation of gross fixed capital and have a high multiplier effect that can further increase the country’s economic growth.
“The gross loan receipts amounting to RM217.20 billion have resulted in an increase in the federal debt to RM979.81 billion or 63.4 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, compared to RM879.56 billion or 62 per cent to GDP in 2020,” he said.
Malaysiakini reported Nik Azman has warned that borrowing money to service debts can only be a short-term and temporary measure and that Malaysia needs to find a long-term solution to the problem.
“It is true that loans are always made to finance mainly development expenditure,” the A-G was quoted as saying.
