Guan Eng: Malaysia on the hook for RM50bil of 1MDB’s debts

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will have to pay about RM50bil of beleaguered state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s dues, finance minister Lim Guan Eng told reporters on Friday.

The new government has vowed to find out how funds went missing from 1MDB, set up nearly a decade ago by former prime minister Najib Razak, a disappearance it says led to the finance ministry having to bail out the fund a year ago.

Last week, Lim said the government had guaranteed RM38bil of 1MDB’s debt at the end of 2017. The government had also already paid RM7bil of the fund’s dues since April 2017.

“If you look at the loans that we have to pay, we are looking at ballpark number RM50bil. Again, is that the whole picture?” Lim said, raising the possibility that the liabilities might exceed that figure.

The sum of RM50bil included interest and repayment of debts, he added.

Another focus for the government is how to cut federal debt and liabilities it puts at around RM1 trillion.

It is reviewing all the country’s large projects, and has decided to ax a high-speed rail link between the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and neighboring Singapore. Lim said he hoped reviews of other projects would be finalised by year-end.

“We hope to have final decisions on projects by the end of the year, maybe earlier,” he said, adding that the government would look at the cost of each project and whether it was in the best interests of the country. - Reuters