“I read the news that the country’s national debt has surpassed RM1.30 trillion": Abang Johari

 SANTUBONG,Oct 8 2025: The state government must manage its finance to avoid raising bonds as it will lead to incurring debt, Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg has assured.

The premier: Sarawak cannot afford to be trapped by the debts.

He said revenue and expenditure must be balanced “otherwise we will be in debt”.

“If the public sector does not have enough funds, the likelihood is that we will raise bonds. The moment your raise bonds, meaning you borrow money.

“That means there will be more debts,” he said at the Sarawak Corporate Leadership Summit 2025 here today.

He said the state government has to be careful not to incur debt, or else, the debt ratio to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) will not be balanced which means it will affect us badly.”

Abang Johari, who is also the state Minister of Finance and New Economy, said in terms of the fiscal management of the government’s funds, “we have to make some adjustments to ensure that it is balanced, with no large amount of debts.”

He said he has asked the state’s top civil servants to look into working with credible institutions, like the World Bank.

He said the bank is the one that monitors the global economic landscape, including Asia.

“Yesterday, I read the news that the country’s national debt has surpassed  RM1.30 trillion or about 60 per cent of the GDP.

“If it is 60 per cent of the GDP, then we will have only 40 per cent left.

“We also have to think of servicing the debt or paying the interests.

“So, you don’t have much money left for the public sector,” he said.

He said in such a case, the country will then continue to be trapped by the debt.

The premier said Sarawak cannot afford to be trapped by the debt.

“If we are trapped by the debt, then we don’t have much funds left, such as to build new schools or to repair dilapidated schools.

“That is why we want autonomy to strengthen our financial position,” he said.

He noted that the state’s collection of revenue grew from RM6 billion in 2017 to over RM14 billion last year.

However, he said the revenue collection for this year will be slightly impacted by the import tariffs imposed by the United States on the exports from Sarawak.

“Hopefully, by the end of this year, the total of our revenue collection will be maintained or slightly improve,” he added.

The premier said he believes that there will be surplus revenue for Sarawak, adding that it will be invested to raise more revenue.