FORMER Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the Government to reconvene the Parliament and table a Bill to raise the national debt ceiling to 65%, to mitigate effects of the COVID-19 triggered economic downturn.
“If the Government really cares about people’s lives and respect the rule of law, the administration should table a Bill at the Parliament to raise the debt ceiling.
“This will allow the Government to borrow more funds to help the people, while not breaching the existing debt threshold set by the Parliament,” he said, in a Facebook post.
On July 31, Free Malaysia Today reported Najib lashed out at the Government for refusing to raise the debt ceiling, accusing the latter of fearing a Parliamentary vote.
“If they can’t get enough votes, it will prove that the Government lacks majority support and will collapse.
“So what if the people have no food and have lost incomes? As long as our leaders can remain in power, all is good,” he was reported saying.
M’sia needs more funds
On that note, Najib opined that money matters could be the reason why hospitals are under severe stress, until they had to plead from the private sector for additional equipment to deal with the raging pandemic.
“Hospitals are asking for containers to store dead bodies and lacking oxygen concentrators. The Government is unable to impose a short but strict lockdown until COVID-19 cases have become a serious problem,” he added.
Reminiscing his premiership, the Pekan MP said the-then Barisan Nasional (BN) Government managed to reduce national debt to gross domestic product (GDP) to 48.7%, lower than the 55% threshold.
However, the debt level increased to 54.4%, at the end of the Pakatan Harapan’s short-lived administration.
“Subsequently, the current Government raised the debt ceiling to 60% to deal with the pandemic but it was breached.
“So, I urge the Government to reconvene the Parliament and raise the threshold to 65% to help our struggling people,” Najib remarked. – Aug 3, 2021.
