This is How Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Controls State Expenditure

INDUSTRY.co.id - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday announced a 10 percent wage cut for ministers in his cabinet in an effort to control spending, as the new government deals with high-level debt surpassing more than one trillion ringgit (251.5 billion dollars).

Mahathir announced the move in his first cabinet meeting attended by more than a dozen ministers who had just been sworn in. "We are concerned about the financial problems of this country," Mahathir told the media crew after the meeting.

Mahathir says he will not force other senior government officials to follow him, but he says they can do so if they want to contribute to reducing the cost of running the country.

Since taking over power after the election victory, Mahathir has focused on implementing the promised commitments during the campaign, including abolishing a six percent goods and services tax, which Moody's ratings agency said could narrow the country's tax base and tension the country's fiscal strength.

At a press conference, Mahathir said Malaysia's debt accounted for about 65 percent of the country's GDP. In addition to payroll cuts, he has been advocating other measures, including forming a small cabinet, streamlining the government and restoring some assets associated with 1MDB state funds abroad.

He said the Land Public Transport Commission would be dissolved, with previous functions stationed under the transport ministry, while some other "unimportant" institutions would also be dissolved.

In addition, he touched on the review process of some mega projects, saying the government is studying which will be canceled and that will continue.

He also said the government was reviewing a contract for searching for missing MH370 aircraft. "If we find that it is not necessary, we will not renew (contract)," he said. (Ant)