KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has rebutted the opposition’s allegations that the recent subsidy rationalisation introduced by the government stems from Malaysia borrowing money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In response to a supplementary question from MP Datuk Rosol Wahid (Hulu Terengganu-PN), Anwar said that such claims were not true and that debts incurred from the IMF occurred under the tenure of previous prime ministers.
“When I was the finance minister in 1993, I made sure all debts with the IMF and the World Bank were cleared.
“But in 1999, the former finance minister asked the IMF for a loan. I found this when I was a corruption and governance consultant with Georgetown University in the USA.
“This (fact) has been twisted for many years, and again, after so many years, it is being used again. Just stop this slander,” he said.
He also said PAS members who used to be in the Pakatan Harapan bloc also knew and agreed to this previously.
Last week, Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin asked if the federal government’s move to do away with providing subsidies has any links with the IMF.
Speaking at the PN Ceramah Mega for the Sg Bakap by-election, he said he wasn’t accusing but merely asking.
Muhyiddin said when the value of the ringgit dropped during the reign of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar, who was then the finance minister, had suggested borrowing money from the IMF.
On Rosol’s question on why only Sabah and Sarawak are excluded from the diesel subsidy rationalisation, he emphasised the importance of noting that these two Bornean states primarily use diesel-fueled vehicles.
“Just go to Sabah and Sarawak and see. People should know that prices of goods sold in the two states are relatively high,” he added. – July 2, 2024