DON’T PLAY THE FOOL, NAJIB. IF YOU MISS THE 5-DAY DEADLINE, IT WILL MEAN MALAYSIA IS IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE: EVEN PRO-BN ECONOMISTS START TO GET BLUNT WITH NAJIB

THE missed debt obligation by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is unprecedented in Malaysia’s recent history, and signals a need for the government to put in place more prudent financial planning, economists said today.

Former Treasury deputy secretary-general Ramon Navaratnam said 1MDB missing its deadline to repay a debt of US$600 million (RM2.6 billion) to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) was the first time a government body had defaulted on its repayment schedule.

“I was surprised. It is not our style. We have always met our debt obligations on time,” said Ramon, who served 27 years in the Treasury.

Ramon said he could not recall the country ever asking for extensions or “haircuts” – the need to negotiate for lower payments – and not meeting deadlines to pay its debts.
“We have always maintained a high reputation. We have always been financially prudent and proper. This is certainly not a feather in our cap.

“It is a matter of regret how we got into this. Prudent public financing and good governance are essential, otherwise problems like this kind will arise and recur,” said the former Transparency-International Malaysia chairman and current head of the Centre of Public Policy Studies of the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (Asli).

IPIC’s owner Mubadala in a statement today gave 1MDB five days make the payment it missed yesterday, failing which the sovereign wealth fund will “become subject to additional obligations”.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Najib Razak blamed 1MDB’s failure to pay the Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund US$600 million on “technical” issues”, and not because 1MDB had no money.

Yesterday, 1MDB informed IPIC that the payment, originally due on July 31, would be paid this month as the former awaited funds that were due to be received last month. The payments to IPIC would be made from proceeds of the 1MDB rationalisation plan.

Ramon said it was unlikely the government would seek a further extension or miss the new deadline, as it would mean the government is “in trouble” financially.

“It is technically acceptable, but undesirable. It means you had been biting more than you can chew, not cutting your coat according to your cloth,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Economist Yeah Kim Leng said the debt payment should be resolved quickly, otherwise Malaysia’s reputation would be at risk.

“If it is not resolved, it will be a black mark in our debt payment history,” he said.

If 1MDB was to further default on the debt repayment, Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating might be downgraded said Yeah.

“The knock-on effects can be quite severe. Given the closeness of 1MDB with the government, which had provided the sovereign fund with some kind of support, the government’s reputation is also at stake,” said the professor of economics at Sunway University’s Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia (JCI).

Yeah said one possibility that could arise from the situation was that the federal government will pay for 1MDB’s debt first, if the wealth fund is unable to come up with the money in time.

“It may also trigger the government to pay the debt first, making it a direct government debt,” he said.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com