AS speculation mounts over what Anwar Ibrahim told a task force last week about Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) forex losses in the 1990s, one thing is clear - only a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) can take the matter further for justice.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has volunteered to testify before the special task force chaired by Mohd Sidek Hassan, the former chief secretary to the government. The task force was formed last February.

“I welcome the task force to call me anytime. I am ever ready,” Dr Mahathir told reporters after a ceramah in Penang last night.

The Malaysian Insight understands that Putrajaya will consider a RCI later as the task force can only conduct preliminary investigations into the losses and study if there were any cover-ups or deliberate acts of giving misleading statements then.

“Nobody can be compelled to give evidence to the task force but RCIs can do so,” a source told The Malaysian Insight, citing previous royal panels probing incidents from Anwar’s black eye to the Penang passenger terminal collapse.

“There was talk of an RCI for the BNM losses but a task force was set up first to look into the matter,” said another source.

Anwar was among the first to testify to the panel as he was finance minister when BNM incurred about RM10 billion forex losses between 1992 and 1994. Anwar, who was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998, ran the finance ministry from 1991 to 1998.

His testimony was heard by the seven-member task force, who include Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner Azam Baki, Police Commercial Crimes Department director Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, Securities Commission Malaysia chairman Ranjit Ajit Singh, Retirement Fund Inc chief executive officer Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad, Pemudah co-chairman Saw Choo Boon, and lawyer Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos.

Sidek said last month the task force would present its findings to the Cabinet in three months, adding that the team would focus on three terms of reference - preliminary investigations into losses by BNM related to its speculative foreign currency transactions; whether there was any action to cover up the losses; and, whether misleading statements on the matter were presented to Parliament.

The BNM forex losses issue was revived by former BNM assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid, who said the losses were much more than the reported RM9 billion in the central bank’s 1994 annual report.

Murad had also urged Dr Mahathir along with Anwar and another former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, to be questioned on the issue. Others have also asked DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang to testify.

Anwar was deputy prime minister to Dr Mahathir when BNM was actively speculating in the forex market in the 1980s.

The forex losses reported in 1991 forced the resignation of then BNM governor Jaffar Hussein. – April 24, 2017.