Poof... RM8 billion dream.

Here's the deal, Einstein.

Why spend RM8 billion on defence when there's no threat. If there's one, bring back the the FREE defence pack e.g. Australia, NZ, UK, that was here before BN kicked them out. Not only it's FREE, but lots of M'sians and businesses can be generated from them. Ego and pride, huh?

Anyway, M'sia's external borrowing is RM9.9 billion and want to borrow another RM8 billion to buy 257 8x8 Armoured-Wheeled Vehicle from DRB Hicom? And, that's a cool RM31.1 million each!!!

If, there's really a need, why not buy the best of the best tanks i.e. M1Abrams at RM19.7 million. Cheaper and bestest in the world!!! Something is not right, don't you think?

Of course, the best deal is to forget about it and put this budget for basic amenities to all M'sians e.g. roads, water, electricity, health care and education.

May God save Malaysia.

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Pua slams decision to buy 256 AWV for RM8 bil by Hemananthani Sivanandam KUALA LUMPUR (April 22, 2010): Opposition leaders are urging the government to review and cancel the contract to purchase 257 8x8 Armoured-Wheeled Vehicle (8x8 AWV) for an "astronomical" amount of RM8 billion. Tony Pua "We would like to state upfront that we are disgusted by the transaction. The amount is shocking as each of these non-combat vehicles is priced at a ridiculous RM31.1 million," said Tony Pua (DAP-PJ Utara). On Tuesday, DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech)’s chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil announced at a press conference during the 12th Defence Services Asia 2010 Exhibition that the government has given Deftech a letter of intent, entrusting it to develop the 8x8 AWV programme with the support of the Defence Ministry, Malaysian Army and the Malaysian Defence Industry Council. "We have an order for 257 8x8 AWV units but right now, we are going to come up with the prototypes meant for testing purposes by the army before we develop the whole range of armoured vehicles," Mohd Khamil was quoted saying. Pua said the amount was shocking as other armoured vehicles in other countries cost far less. "The Portugese army bought 353 Pandur II 8x8 armoured vehicles for the amout of 364 million euros (RM1.56billion) or an average of 1.03 million euros or only RM4.41 million each. "In 2009, the U.S Army has awarded a US$2.2 billion contract to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, one of the best military vehicle and equipment manufacturer in the world for 724 Light Armoured vehicles (LAV) equivalent of USD$3.04 million or only RM9.9million each meant for Saudi Arabia. "Even the best-in-class main battle tank produced in the United States, M1Abrams M1A2 deployed extensively in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Australia cost only US$6.1 million or approximately RM19.7 million. "Despite the price-tag, Deftech admits that they are only at the stage of developing a prototype. The prototype hasn’t been tested but the contract is already out" Pua told reporters at Parliament lobby today. Pua also said the Barisan Nasional government is "clearly missing the woods for the trees" in the financial management of the country. "At the same time when the Ministry of Finance has issued strict treasury circulars for all ministries to reduce their operational expenditure by as much as 20%, the Ministry (of Defence) commits to a purchase that completely mocks the attempt by the government to be thrifty," said Pua. "We hope the Ministry of Defence will now inform us that this is another decimal point error in the contract value," said Pua jokingly. -- theSun

Updated: 01:22PM Thu, 22 Apr 2010

source: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=45889

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Government debt at RM362b as at Dec 31, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — The government’s overall debt as at Dec 31 last year was RM362.4 billion or 53.7 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (picture), who is also Finance Minister, said a major portion of the debt was domestic debts amounting to RM348.6 billion or 96.2 per cent while the remaining RM13.9 billion (3.8 per cent) was external debts.

“The small amount of external debt is in line with the government’s current policy which prioritises domestic borrowings to finance the country’s development projects as the cost is cheaper and there is less exposure to foreign exchange risk,” he said in a written reply to a question from Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Bikut Bendera) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here today.

Liew had asked on the direct financial obligations of the government in the form of financial guarantee for debt instruments.

Najib said the debt instruments were subscribed by financial institutions, insurance companies and social security institutions.

On the borrowings for projects, he said the financiers were multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank while the bilateral institutions included Japan For International Cooperation (JBIC).

He said the interest rates varied and depended on the tenure of the loan and the prevailing market conditions when the bonds were issued.

Najib said the government’s contingent liabilities meanwhile were in the form of guarantees for the borrowings of statutory bodies and government companies.

As of Dec 31, 2008, the contingent liabilities of the government stood at RM69.2 billion comprising domestic borrowings of RM59.3 billion (86 per cent) and external borrowings of RM9.9 billion (14 per cent),” he said.

He said the guarantees involved two statutory bodies and 16 government-linked companies. — Bernama