PUTRAJAYA does not have the luxury of time to get fatigued over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal as the country could be declared bankrupt if debt obligations are not met, said prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In an interview with Focus Malaysia, Dr Mahathir was asked if Malaysians are growing tired of the controversy surrounding the state fund.

He replied that the people must not ignore the snowball effect that 1MDB’s debts had on the economy.

“You can be tired and fatigued about it, but the problem is there and it is affecting us,” he said.

“Even if you borrow and you don’t pay, you cannot say ‘never mind, forget about that’. It does not work that way.

“You have to tackle the problem. I try to emphasise that when you borrow money, and there is a non-payment, two to three times you can be declared bankrupt.

“Greece was declared bankrupt and Malaysia will be declared bankrupt of we don’t pay our debts,” said the 93-year-old.

Dr Mahathir said Putrajaya has not even managed to pay off the principle amount owed, which is why the government is looking to sell off underperforming assets.

“We need to roll over the principle and to do so, we need to sell assets, raise money and borrow money from people with lower interest rates,” he told the financial daily.

Investigations into 1MDB, which incurred losses of billions of dollars, were kicked off after Pakatan Harapan defeated Barisan Nasional in the last general election.

PH leaders also revealed soon after taking over Putrajaya that the government debt had reached RM1 trillion, with a large part of it due to 1MDB.

Former prime minister Najib Razak, who initiated the state fund, has been charged with multiple counts of abuse of power and corruption relating to 1MDB.

Najib has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he was not properly informed of transactions by the 1MDB board of directors. – March 30, 2019.