PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has denied allegations that private company funds were used to finance his foreign trips.
“The government utilised MAS flights to visit four countries, incurring a cost of RM1.6mil, which was paid using government funds,” the Prime Minister said on Facebook on Monday . “The remaining seats were offered to private companies accompanying the delegation for investment or joint venture purposes, with their costs totalling RM4.5mil.”
Anwar explained that had the government’s executive jet been used, the cost would have been RM2.5mil. However, through this partnership, the government’s expenditure was limited to RM1.6mil.“As such, do not fall prey to baseless accusations,” Anwar added. The Prime Minister was responding to a Sinar Harian report in which Pushpan Murugiah, the chief executive officer of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism , suggested the government should have considered potential conflicts of interest between the government and the private sector regarding the matter.