Finance Minister hopes ECRL decision soon

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has expressed hope that the decision on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) will be finalised soon.

KUALA LUMPUR: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has expressed hope that the decision on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) will be finalised soon after the Chinese government offered some reduction in the cost of the project.   

“I think the prime minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) had mentioned some price reduction and we are still discussing and hope these discussions can be carried out quickly, hopefully in time for Tun Mahathir's visit to China in April,” he said after launching the Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund here on Thursday.

The ECRL project comes with a hefty price tag of RM55 billion and the prime minister previously announced that the project could be carried out at a cost of RM35 billion.

The government has paid RM200 million in interest to the main contractor of the ECRL, with the interest payment based on the RM55 billion loan taken from China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) as the main contractor of the ECRL. - Bernama