THE billions Bank Negara Malaysia lost in the foreign exchange (forex) scandal are real, while 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s losses are just on paper, said Umno information chief Annuar Musa.

He said the forex losses could never be recovered but 1MDB was still a running business that could generate profit.

“The RM30 billion losses in the forex trading scandal in 1993 has been confirmed by the ongoing RCI (royal commission of inquiry). That is a real loss that the country can never recover. It is not a loss on paper but a real loss that is forever.

“It is not like 1MDB, where the losses are on paper. The business is still running, capable of generating profit and can undergo a rationalisation to overcome the losses.

“But the opposition is making it look like the 1MDB debts cannot be paid and the people bore the debts. That is false information. The losses are only on paper and business-wise, 1MDB has not folded and is still operating,” he was quoted as saying on Umno Online today.

Annuar reportedly made the comparison between the two scandals at a press conference after an Umno Supreme Council meeting at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Pakatan Harapan opposition pact has been claiming in its 1MDB roadshows that the losses incurred by controversial sovereign fund were in the region of RM42 billion.

While the government has formed an RCI to look into the forex scandal, which happened when PH chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister and PH de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was finance minister, no RCI has been set up to probe into the 1MDB scandal.

Annuar also reportedly “credited” DAP and its veteran leader Lim Kit Siang for the forex losses RCI, saying that the inquiry into the scandal had been set up because DAP had pushed for it.

He denied that the RCI was a retaliatory move against any individual, including Dr Mahathir, who had become the administration and Prime Minister Najib Razak’s biggest critic.

“RCIs are usually formed out of the people’s requests. To form an RCI, the government must study the sentiments of the people and the need over an issue that can sometimes change.

“On the forex RCI, Lim brought up the issue at parliament in 1994 and demanded for an RCI to be formed. He again called for an RCI to be formed 12 years later, in 2006 at parliament. He even gave detailed facts related to the losses,” he said.

“Lim was the first person who gave a picture of the government’s losses in the forex scandal that amounted to half the national reserves, which were at RM60 billion at the time.

“So, the forex RCI is done at the demand and initiative of DAP that had been pushing for an investigation. The government sees the pressure by DAP as relevant in the interest of the people,” he added. – August 25, 2017.