Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (centre) said the fund was necessary to ensure that the donations from patriotic Malaysians would reach the Ministry of Finance. (Photo: EPA-EFE) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia’s finance ministry said on May 30 that the government has set up a fund to let the public contribute to easing the country’s huge national debt.
The move came after a fundraising initiative named "Please Help Malaysia" received more than 3,500 USD in donations via the website GoGetFunding as part of the campaign to help the Southeast Asian nation to ease debt.
In a statement, the ministry said there are many Malaysians who are willing to support the Government. The fund, to be named “Malaysia Hope Fund”, will provide a systematic and transparent platform to manage all public donations.
After coming into power following the May 9 national election, new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad declared that his government's priority is to settle debts of up to 1 trillion ringgit (250.8 billion USD) or 80 percent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product.
Although prioritising debt settlement by reviewing large-scale projects, streamlining apparatus and cutting down salaries of ministers, Malaysia still decided to reduce goods and services taxes this week. This will have great impact on the government's incomes.-VNA
VNA
