PUTRAJAYA: Newly-minted Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the source of funds for the recently tabled Budget 2023.
He said that the government was short of RM90 billion from its fund, hence it would be forced to take loans.
"It is the biggest budget, but where does the money come from? I believe they will take more loans.
"The debt now is already RM1.5 trillion, and now they want to take more loans.
"This will take years to pay off. Every year the country is only paying RM40 billion in interest.
"The principle is still there, we are only able to pay interest," he said at a press conference to announce himself as the new member of Putra at Perdana Leadership Foundation here today.
Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tabled the Budget 2023 at RM386 billion.
The amount was more than RM1 billion of the budget tabled by his predecessor Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob before parliament was dissolved.