KUALA LUMPUR - Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has described the allegation that the government has yet to pay the principle debt of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as baseless.
This, he said was because the principal debt will only mature in 2039.
"Therefore, the allegation that the government has not paid 1MDB's principal debt is baseless considering the principal debt will only mature later.
"The RM32.3 billion has a maturity date between 2022 and 2039, so this has not been paid yet. But the government has started servicing the interest amount," he said during the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Thursday.
Tengku Zafrul said this response to a question by Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) who asked for an explanation regarding the allegation made by Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the government has not paid the 1MDB principle debt.
During the debate session on the Royal address at the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, Najib who is also the former prime minister claimed that not a single cent of the people’s money was used to pay the 1MDB debt.
He said the payment of RM16.4 billion received from Goldman Sachs was not the people’s money, but it was the investment bank’s money which could be used to pay off the debt.
He said several other funds including from the United States Department of Justice (DoJ), Ambank, KPMG and Deloitte which amounted to RM23 billion were also not the people’s money.