SO, NAJIB KNEW OF FOREX LOSSES BUT CLOSED AN EYE: ANWAR INSISTS CABINET ALREADY AWARE OF FOREX LOSSES IN 1993

PUTRAJAYA – Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad never issued “any instructions” regarding Bank Negara Malaysia’s forex trade after learning of the potential losses, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.

Testifying before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the forex losses today, the former deputy prime minister said that Dr Mahathir did not instruct whether to stop or proceed with the forex trading.

Anwar confirmed that Dr Mahathir was briefed of the trading activity and potential losses by a Finance Ministry official on Anwar’s instruction.

Cabinet knew of forex losses

Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today insisted that the Cabinet in 1993 were aware of the losses incurred by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) via foreign exchange trading.

His assertions come despite repeated claims by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan that the Cabinet was unaware of the matter.

In the RCI proceeding investigating the forex losses, Mohd Sidek repeatedly said that Anwar did not declare the actual losses of the forex trade to the Cabinet despite personally being informed of it.

But Anwar stressed that his referral to a final audited BNM report that only declared R 5.7 billion in forex losses in a Cabinet presentation was not equivalent to him concealing information from the Cabinet.

“I take issues with any cabinet minister who says they were not aware of the losses,” he said.

– Malay Mail