The federal government’s 2024 financial statement listed 21 companies with about RM230 billion in outstanding government-guaranteed debt.

Some finance major public infrastructure projects. They include special-purpose vehicles, statutory bodies, and government-linked companies.

Instead of the government paying the full cost of a railway, highway, aircraft or other project directly from an annual budget, a government-linked entity can borrow the money, and the federal government can guarantee the loan.

The guarantees are recorded annually in the federal financial statements as “statutory guarantees”, but the loan itself sits with the company.