Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng speaks during a press conference in Putrajaya May 22, 2018. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

PUTRAJAYA, May 22 — Newly elected Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng will be grilling 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) president and chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy to find out whether the scandal-ridden company is able to pay its latest interest of RM143.75 million due on May 30, 2018.

Lim told a press conference on his first day on the job that Deputy Treasurer-General Datuk Siti Zauyah Mohd Desa informed him that the most urgent item to be resolved was the payment of interest for 1MDB borrowings.

“Arul Kanda has to date insisted that 1MDB is fully able to service its debt obligations. Therefore, I have given instructions for Arul Kanda to brief and clarify if 1MDB is able to pay the above sum due next week.

“I have also requested to meet the directors of 1MDB, Datuk Kamal Mohd Ali and Datuk Norazman Ayob to brief the Ministry on the state of affairs in 1MDB,” said Lim.

The DAP secretary-general was also briefed that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has been bailing out 1MDB’s debt service obligations since April last year.

The total amount paid by the MOF has amounted to RM6.98 billion, including payments to IPIC’s settlement agreement amounting to RM5.05 billion.

“The above confirms the public perception that 1MDB had essentially deceived Malaysians by claiming that they have been paid via a “successful rationalisation exercise”. All this while it has been the MOF who has bailed out 1MDB.

“Worse, the list of payment to date only involves interest, coupon payments and the advance from IPIC. They have yet to take into account the billions of Ringgit of debt which will be due from the year 2022,” said Lim.

Furthermore, besides the RM143.75 million due by end of May, another RM810.21 million worth of interest is due between September and November this year.