COMMENT | One of Pakatan Harapan's more successful propaganda to lie to and mislead Malaysians is the gross external debt position of Malaysia.

They point out that Malaysia's gross external debt at the end of 2016 was RM908.7 billion which is equivalent to about RM29,134 for each Malaysian, based on our population of 31.19 million people.

The propaganda says this will burden our children and our children's children and future generations.

However, what Harapan does not tell you is that Singapore's gross external debt at the end of 2016 was US$1.766 trillion (S$2.518 trillion).

This is equivalent to RM7.7 trillion - which means that going by Singapore's population of 5.61 million people, based on Harapan's propaganda, then each Singaporean owes RM1.37 million.

Hong Kong is not much better as its gross external debt of HK$10.3 trillion as at end 2016 is equivalent to RM734,135 for each of Hong Kong's 7.35 million population.

What Harapan fails to tell you when they take advantage of the average Malaysian's lack of knowledge is that the government owes very little in foreign currency with most of the gross external debt actually being owed by banks and companies as part of their business.

In fact, as a country that wants to be more deeply involved in foreign trade and having our banks to be a regional or international financial centre, a higher gross external debt is actually a sign of success.

Don't believe me? Just read the Singapore government's official explanation on why their gross external debt is so high, from their Straits Times newspaper.

M'sia does not owe IMF or World Bank

The actual fact is that Malaysia does not owe the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank any money at all. In fact, we are in a net positive position with both.

Gross external debt alone does not tell the story. You need to also look at our gross asset to see what our net position is.

In fact, Malaysia has greater gross external assets than debts - meaning we are in a net surplus international investment position - meaning the world owes Malaysia more than Malaysia owes the world.

This is why international creditor companies give Malaysia an "A" investor grade rating.

This is what Moody's says: "A sizeable surplus on the net international investment position acts as a cushion (for Malaysia)."

Harapan has been fooling Malaysians for years. Many of their lies have been found out later. Don't let them continue fooling you and make you look quite silly when you repeat their lies.

ERIC SEE-TO is the deputy director of the BN Strategic Communications Team. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.