A-G’s Report: Govt still exposed to RM66b worth of debt owed by five Ministry of Finance Inc companiesAuditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid arrives in Parliament for the presentation of the Auditor-General's 2018 Report October 14, 2019. — Picture by Hari Anggara
The recommendation was made in the 2018 federal audit which found federal government-guaranteed debt as of December 31, 2018, to be at a colossal RM137.7 billion. “Given that the federal government is allowed to guarantee loans under the Loans Guarantee Act 1965, these debts are due to mature by 2041, while another is due this year. The latter debt stood at close to RM100 million.
Some of it went into paying debt service charges accrued by subsidiaries of 1Malaysia Development Berhad , the fund at the heart of a major financial embezzlement scandal involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.“As provided under Section 8 of the Loans Guarantee Act 1965, companies are obligated to repay all sums given as advance by the Government,” it said.Earlier this year Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that the government’s contingent liabilities were up by RM28.