According to the Finance Ministry, the federal government’s latest sovereign national debt amount for the year ending Dec 31, 2015 is at a staggering at RM630.5 billion, which stands at 54.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The figure is close to the government’s self-imposed 55 percent ceiling limit.

This means every Malaysian, including every newborn baby, is saddled with over RM21,000 of debt each.

This is horrendous.

How did it come to pass that a country, which enjoys oil and gas revenues, has such a high amount of national debt?

Countries without oil and gas such as Singapore and South Korea, which were once economically behind Malaysia, now have GDP per capita twice and 2.5 times more than Malaysia respectively.

Of the total national debt, 96.6 percent, or RM609.1 billion, is domestic debt while another 3.4 percent, or RM21.5 billion, is offshore debt.

With this huge amount of debt, how could the government say the debt is manageable and can be categorised as at a “modest position”?

I urge the government to reveal the countries that it owes money to. In that way, the rakyat shall be able to know whether the figures are truthful or not.

In addition, how much of this debt is laid on low-income Malaysians via the Goods and Services Tax (GST)?

What kind of mechanisms have been proposed by the federal government to overcome and reduce this national debt?

The word ‘manageable’ is also very worrisome because the rakyat will be at the mercy of rating agencies.

The interest paid on debt in 2015 was over RM22 billion. With the nation’s economy becoming more mismanaged, it is inevitable that the debt ceiling will be broken.

Najib Abdul Razak has claimed that he received RM2.6 billion in ‘donations’ from the Saudi Arabian royalty. Will the prime minister then help donate to pay the nation's debt? Will he find donors to help pay off Malaysia’s debt?

RM177.7b in gov’t-guaranteed loans

Last year alone, Putrajaya gave out RM177.7 billion in government-guaranteed loans, mainly to public entities such as DanaInfra Nasional Berhad and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to fund infrastructure development projects.

Under the Loan Guarantees Act (Bodies Corporate) 1965, the federal government also provides loan guarantees to statutory bodies and state firms to fund development projects.

The Finance Ministry said it issued two letters of support last year - one fund amounted to RM12.2 billion and another totalled RM608 million.

However, it did not reveal which agencies received the letters. The ministry only stated that the repayment of the borrowed sum “is good and on time without arrears”.

Whether it is a letter of guarantee, a letter of support or letter of comfort, the federal government is still responsible for the full payment of it.

Can BN guarantee that the debt level remains under 55 percent of the country’s GDP?

It is not likely.

The lackadaisical culture of the ruling BN government will likely ensure that spending will continue soaring. And it would not be surprising if Putrajaya raises our debt ceiling level to 60 percent on the flimsiest of excuses.

Meanwhile, rosy reports of the economic health of Malaysia are churned out to hoodwink the rakyat and to generate support in order for BN to maintain its grip on power.

ABDUL AZIZ ISA MARINDO is special assistant to the Sarawak DAP chairperson and Petra Jaya DAP Socialist Youth publicity secretary.