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Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong has revealed that Malaysia would have had to bear a cost of at least RM51.4 billion if Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration remained in power after the 2018 general election
In a Facebook post today, 9 July, Liew said he made the revelation in parliament after Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen asked about the financial burden the 1MDB scandal continues to place on the government.
According to Liew, Chong's supplementary question was whether the cost of the 1MDB scandal to the nation would have increased if there had been no change of government in 2018.
"My answer is this: The total cost of 1MDB stands at RM51.4 billion. If there had been no change of government in 2018, it means Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration would have remained in power and done nothing about the scandal.
"Consequently, the government would have been forced to bear losses of at least RM51.4 billion," he said.
Liew added that through the relentless efforts of the Treasury and various other parties since 2018, 1MDB-linked assets worth RM31.3 billion have been successfully recovered
"However, the remaining RM20.1 billion may never be found. This represents a colossal loss that must be borne by all Malaysians," said the Iskandar Puteri MP.
Liew said there were also two other hidden costs stemming from the scandal: the opportunity cost and the damage to Malaysia's national dignity.
He said the billions of ringgit spent on legal and financial experts to trace and recover 1MDB-linked assets could have been avoided had the scandal not occurred.
According to Liew, if the funds had not been misappropriated, they could have instead been channelled into programmes that benefited Malaysians, rather than being spent on managing what he described as a "mega-scandal".
As an example, Liew said the MADANI Government had to allocate RM13 billion from the country's 2023 Development Budget to settle a USD3 billion (about RM12 billion) bond guaranteed by the previous administration.
He explained that the payment alone accounted for 13.1% of the government's total development expenditure that year.
He also said that the 1MDB scandal had tarnished Malaysia's international reputation for nearly a decade, leaving many Malaysians living abroad and those dealing with foreign investors to face embarrassment because of the controversy.
Liew claimed the country's image only began to recover after the MADANI government, led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, took office.
"Today, the world once again respects Malaysia as a credible and dignified nation," he said.
