PETALING JAYA: Despite pessimism about the country's debt and the economy, the World Bank and other international rating agencies have always rated Malaysia's economic performance consistently, said Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said this in response to a commentary by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia policy and strategy bureau chairman Datuk Dr Rais Hussin about the country debt.

"This is the problem with my esteemed friend Dr Rais's flawed economic argument. He likes to talk about the size, growth of debt but never talks about the size, growth of the economy. Also he conveniently forgets the context of the debt," said Abdul Rahman on Twitter on Thursday (Feb 1).

Dr Rais, in a commentary published on a news portal, claimed the country's debt under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has shot up and that without strong reforms, the ratings on Malaysia's creditworthiness would be affected.