PARLIAMENT | Malaysia has yet to repay the principal amount of 1MDB debts but the country is servicing the interest on those debts, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in rebutting former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's remark yesterday that not a single sen of public funds was used by the government to repay the principal amount of 1MDB debts.
"The accusation that we have not repaid the principal amount is baseless since the principal amount is not yet mature," he said during the minister's question time session.
"As of the end of this month, the remaining commitment stands between RM38.5 billion and RM38.8 billion, with RM32.3 billion principal and RM6.5 billion interest," he told Lim Guan Eng (Pakatan Harapan-Bagan).
Lim had asked if it was true that not a sen had been paid on the 1MDB debts.
In making the claim yesterday, Najib said public funds were not used because various entities, including Goldman Sachs, audit firms KPMG and Deloitte, Ambank and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had returned 1MDB funds totalling RM23 billion to Malaysia.
“Let’s not give the excuse that the 1MDB debt has damaged the country’s finances. The fact is not a single sen has been used in repaying the principal amount of the 1MDB fund in 2018,” Najib said in his debate on royal address yesterday.
“In 2018, the 1MDB debt stood at RM32 billion, and it remained the same from 2019 to 2021.
“All this amounts to almost RM23 billion and it is not the people’s money. Supposedly this money can be used to repay 1MDB debt,” he added.
RM38b outstanding
The government has repaid RM13.3 billion of 1MDB's debt so far, with RM38.81 billion still outstanding as of Dec 31 last year, according to the Finance Ministry.
The Finance Ministry said the misappropriated funds, which it seized and recovered from multiple jurisdictions totalling RM19.1 billion, are only enough to cover repayments for this year.
Two of the bonds amounting to about RM14.5 billion will mature this year, which will require the government to repay the full sum. The first will mature in May and the other in October.
A third bond totalling RM12.46 billion will mature in March 2023 and if the government can't recover more of the misappropriated sums, the repayment will have to come out of the country's budget. - Mkini
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