PETALING JAYA: The controversial state investment arm 1MDB could be RM9.7 billion in profit today, former prime minister Najib Razak said this evening to counter his critics who claimed the company had lost RM42 billion or RM32 billion.
He said his calculation was based on statements made by the finance minister, Damansara MP Tony Pua, a noted 1MDB critic, and a guarantee from the Abu Dhabi government.
Earlier today, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz had said the government faced a RM17 billion shortfall to repay 1MDB’s total outstanding debt. Najib said Pua had “admitted” that the land at the Bandar Malaysia project, initiated by 1MDB, was valued at RM12 billion.
He also took into account an Abu Dhabi guarantee to bear the cost of a US$3.5 billion (RM14.7 billion) bond involving 1MDB, which would offset part of the outstanding debts.
Najib said based on this calculation, 1MDB would be RM9.7 billion ahead.
That calculation did not take into account the revenue earned from the RM40 billion Tun Razak Exchange project or the RM50 billion in savings from rectifying “lopsided agreements” with independent power producers made during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s earlier tenure as prime minister.
Najib said he also did not take into account the revenue generated by 1MDB assets such as land in Penang, worth RM2.7 billion, and in Pulau Indah (RM300 million).
He said the Bandar Malaysia project would have been worth RM140 billion in gross development value if it had been implemented.
Najib’s statement, in a posting on Facebook, came in the wake of a motion submitted by Pua recently for Najib to be referred to the parliamentary committee of privileges for supposedly misleading the lower House on 1MDB’s debt and Bandar Malaysia’s assets. - FMT
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