THE Ministry of Finance (MoF) has never given any public money to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to settle its debts, said Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani.

Johari said he would not know if 1MDB would seek help from MoF if it ran into problems in the future.

“But so far, they have not come to us for help. In the future, it will be a different story,” he said when commenting on speculation that public funds would be used to resolve 1MDB’s debt.

Johari was speaking to reporters after attending the 2018 Budget Focus Group Meeting: “Increasing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Contribution” in Putrajaya today.

On a report that Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) had given 1MDB until August 31 to settle the US$603 million (RM2.6 billion) debt payment that was due on Tuesday, he declined to confirm it.

Johari said he was not privy to the information as the issue was being discussed and dealt with by the boards of 1MDB and IPIC.

“This is a company matter. So, I get them to go and resolve the issue. You know, out there there are so many companies affected when they do a business dealing.

“So, I cannot exaggerate too much at this stage, but one thing I want to stress… that we (MoF) certainly want 1MDB to look into this matter seriously, so that it will not affect the image of the country.” – Bernama, August 8, 2017.