Malaysia to double deficit to fund stimulus, says finance minister

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia aims to borrow its way out of an economic slump brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and the finance minister told Reuters it will nearly double its fiscal deficit this year while keeping open the option of raising the public debt ceiling.

South-east Asia's third-biggest economy has announced incentives worth RM295 billion (S$96.32 billion) to soften the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with the government vowing to directly inject RM45 billion of that into the economy, mostly raised through domestic borrowings.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told Reuters the fiscal deficit would rise to around 6 per cent of annual economic output this year because of the stimulus, and that a direct fiscal injection of RM10 billion announced on Friday would be raised through domestic borrowing.

"There is only so much monetary policy can do," Tengku Zafrul said in an interview in his office. "So you need fiscal policy to come into play, as long as you have the discipline and the commitment in the longer term to go back to where you should be in terms of the deficit."

Tengku Zafrul, who was chief executive of lender CIMB Group before joining the three-month-old government, said the goal was to narrow the fiscal deficit back down to less than 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next three years or so. It was 3.2 per cent last year.

"How bad was it during the (global financial crisis)? It was 6.7 per cent. So we have room if we want to borrow," he said, referring to the country's peak annual deficit in 2009.

The region's largest economy, Indonesia, said last month that it expected its budget deficit to swell to 6.27 per cent due to virus-related stimulus.

Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia's outstanding public debt now stands at 52 per cent of GDP but that "if we need to, then we should increase the ceiling" beyond the current 55 per cent "to help the people and the economy".

He declined to say how high the government might seek to raise the ceiling, a move that would require approval from parliament.

Neighbouring Thailand said in April its latest borrowing plans would increase its public debt to 51.84 per cent of GDP in the current fiscal year and 57.96 per cent in the next one.

Tengku Zafrul, 46, said there was no immediate need for the central bank to cut its benchmark interest rate further from its decade low of 2 per cent, "given the liquidity in the country and given where the currency is going and where we are we as an economy".

Bank Negara Malaysia's monetary policy committee next meets on July 7, and some analysts have predicted another cut.

REUTERS

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