Govt’s borrowings fall by 17.7 per cent in 2016 — AG Report

KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s borrowings in 2016 fell by 17.7 per cent to RM99.859 billion compared to RM121.364 billion in 2015, according to the AuditorGeneral Report 2016 Series Two.

The report said the reduction was due to the government no longer financing civil servants’ housing loans following the incorporation of the Housing Loans Division.

In addition, the government’s obligation to repay domestic loans in 2016 decreased because part of them had not matured for redemption while some repayment period has not started, it said.

It said the borrowings in 2016 comprised foreign loans amounting to RM5.98 billion (six per cent) and domestic loans amounted to RM93.87 billion (94 per cent).

The federal government’s revenue in 2016 amounted to RM212.42 billion compared to RM219.08 billion in 2015, it said.

The report said the main contributor to the federal government’s revenue was derived from income tax totalling RM102.35 billion and the goods and services tax, amounting to RM41.20 billion.

Until end-2016, a total of RM20 billion has been received from Syarikat Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd, a special-purpose vehicle whollyowned by the Ministry of Finance, of which RM19.41 billion (97.1 per cent) was spent, it said.

It said by end-2016, the federal government held interests in 109 agencies consisting of an international agency, six federal statutory bodies and 102 companies.

The federal government’s shareholding book value at end2016 amounted to RM30.92 billion, recording an increase of RM0.61 billion (two per cent), as compared to RM30.31 billion in the previous year, it said.

The report said the increase in investment in Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) was the major contributor to the higher book value as the excess grants given to SPNB were converted to equity. — Bernama