PETALING JAYA, 20 Jan: Selangor is able to get out of a deficit budget of RM450 million this year through planning and in stages.
The Selangor Economic Advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said that the same situation was faced when he was appointed as the Minister of Finance when the country suffered a deficit budget.
“In one year, it could not be balanced. The first year I reduced the deficit. The second year it was balanced. The third year there was a small surplus,” he said during the “Meet Anwar Selangor” event held here recently.
He said that a huge surplus is not helpful is development is not carried out and it needs to be continuous by providing the best service to the people.
Anwar said that the surplus should be focused on essential needs such as settling debt immediately before the year of maturity.
“When I was the Finance Minister, I made a prepayment of RM12 billion. If the debt was due in 2020, I paid it now.
“If I do not pay it now, it would mean that the next generation will have to bear it. This meant that there must be concern in management. In the context of Selangor, the measures that have been taken are commendable,” he said.
NS
