Lim: Not being corrupt left gov't with extra RM3.5b to spend

INTERVIEW | When Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng tabled Budget 2019 last November, many criticised the government for reducing the amount of aid given to certain groups, such as fishermen and youths.

As the months passed, however, some of these forms of aid were reintroduced, such as cash for unmarried youths under the Cost of Living Aid (BSH) – Pakatan Harapan's version of the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M).

For Lim, it was not a question of the fledgeling government reversing its decision to cut back on aid, but rather Putrajaya giving back the extra income it has.

"I said in my Budget 2019 wrap-up speech, if there is a means, sources we hope can exist and become a reality, then we will hand out the aid," he said in a joint interview in Putrajaya recently.

Asked how much extra the government had to spend after Budget 2019 was tabled, Lim said Putrajaya saved RM3.5 billion just from not being corrupt.

"If you ask where the money comes from, I say it is because the government is clean, wasn't corrupt, so we managed to save.

"When we were doing the budget estimate, how could we have measured how much being clean could save for us? We couldn't.

"But when we had that little extra, we shared it with the people," he said.

Cost-cutting measures

Besides savings from being clean, Lim said the government saved over RM24 billion from cost-cutting measures for several projects, such as the LRT 3 and MRT 2.

This, the minister said, allowed the government to pump in money to "save" Lembaga Tabung Haji and Felda.

He said, however, that these savings were originally meant to pay off 1MDB's debts.

"So it looks like we have to find our own sources to pay back 1MDB's debts. But I'm confident that with strong economic growth, we can do it."

Lim also assured that 1MDB would service its debts to the Employee's Provident Fund (EPF) and Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), as they are government guaranteed.

"You don't need to worry about that (debts to EPF and KWAP). You need to worry about the Finance Ministry, because we are paying the money," he quipped.

Lim explained that the revival of 1MDB-linked projects, such as Bandar Malaysia and the East Coast Rail Link, did not factor into the debt repayment plan, as the returns from these projects are long-term, whereas the debts need to be serviced now.

As for another 1MDB-linked project, the Suria Strategic Energy Resources (SSER) pipelines, Lim said negotiations are underway with China on returning the funds.

The SSER projects were cancelled after it was found that RM8.3 billion – 88 percent of the construction cost – was paid out for the two projects, despite just 13 percent of the work being completed.

Malaysiakini was informed that only about RM1.2 billion was paid by Malaysia, as per the agreement that 85 percent of the project would be funded by Beijing's Exim Bank.

"The amount of payment we made, we will see how much we can get back. In the event we can't come to terms in this negotiation, this has to be deferred to arbitration," he said.

If it comes to that, Lim said, the contract signed by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak stipulates that arbitration will take place in Sweden.

"Why Sweden? I don't know. Maybe Najib will know," he said noting that the European country was better known for Volvo and music group Abba. - Mkini