KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue to monitor the global geopolitical landscape from an economic perspective to assess potential impacts on oil price movements, said Treasury Secretary-General, Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican.
He said the government remained confident of meeting the fiscal targets set out in Budget 2026 despite ongoing global conflicts.
“On the positive note, what we have done under the fiscal reforms undertaken by the government is that we have gradually reduced our reliance on oil-related revenues for fiscal purposes.
“There is no reason to believe that we should not be able to meet the goals of Budget 2026,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the CGS International 18th Annual Malaysia Corporate Day 2026 today.
Earlier, during a fireside chat titled ‘Balancing growth, fiscal and the global’, Johan said the government was confident of achieving its targeted fiscal deficit of 3.8 per cent for 2025.
He added that there was scope for a modest improvement, with the deficit potentially narrowing to 3.7 per cent, subject to final fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth data.
“When we revised our growth estimate in July last year and revised it downwards to between 4 and 4.8 per cent, it was very much based on the first half, where growth was 4.4 per cent for the first two quarters.
“Admittedly, third-quarter growth at 5.2 per cent was certainly a pleasant surprise. Assuming the momentum continues in the fourth quarter, we should hopefully be at the higher end of the range, maybe at 4.8 per cent.
“By virtue of the denominator being potentially slightly better than what we had projected when we prepared the budget, there may be some potential for modest improvement from 3.8 per cent to 3.7 per cent (fiscal deficit),” he noted.
Johan said his remarks were in response to a question during the session on whether the government was on track to meet its 3.8 per cent fiscal deficit target for 2025.
“I was just confirming that we should be on track for 3.8 per cent. He (the moderator) was asking a theoretical question – if growth is higher, that is mathematics.
“But I think the main thing is that the government is confident we will meet our target of 3.8 per cent (fiscal deficit) for 2025,” he added. – BERNAMA
