Malaysia's economic stimulus to double deficit

A corner of Kualar Lumpur (Photo: AFP)

Kualar Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s fiscal deficit will nearly double to around 6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year because of the government’s recent efforts to revive the economy, according to Finance Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

He added that the government could seek to raise the debt ceiling to finance the stimulus.

Malaysia has announced incentives worth 295 billion RM (nearly 70 billion USD) to cope with the impacts of COVID-19.
The government vowed to directly inject 45 billion RM of that into the economy, mostly raised through domestic borrowings.

Malaysia aims to bring the fiscal deficit back to under 4 percent of GDP in the next three years, according to the minister.

He added that Malaysia’s public debt is now 52 percent of GDP, and the government could increase the ceiling to 55 percent in support of people and the economy./.