Bank Negara's disastrous foreign exchange foray in the 1990s should be subject to a Royal Commission of Inquiry and not just a cabinet appointed task force, said PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar, who was finance minister from 1991 to 1998, said he was willing to assist the commission if it was established but not the task force.

He said then senior Bank Negara official Nor Mohamad Yakcop was complicit in the affair and that there were others, such as former Bank Negara governors Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Ahmad Mohd Don, who could assist investigations.

"In fact, I had asked for his (Nor's) resignation but this was not allowed.

"But what is significant now is that Nor had been appointed as second finance minister during Pak Lah's (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) time and now he is still with Khazanah (Nasional)," he told reporters at the sidelines of a court case in Kuala Lumpur today.

The opposition politician added that former Bank Negara governor Jaffar Hussein, who held the post from June 1985 to May 1994, took the rap for the forex losses.

Anwar, who is currently serving a jail sentence for sodomy charges, urged the government to expedite the forming of the commission instead of dragging their feet and thus diverting public attention from more pressing matters.

The former deputy prime minister also asserted that Nor was the second finance minister during Pak Lah's tenure, but checks revealed Nor was in fact appointed to the post in March 2004, a few months before Abdullah took over as PM.

Cabinet had decided to form a special task force last week to probe what was Bank Negara's "actual losses" at the time and who was responsible.

Critics however claimed that the task force was meant to discredit Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was the prime minister at the material time but is now a key opposition figure.

The former premier had said three days ago that he was willing to assist the task force on condition the authorities apply the same level of scrutiny on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's handling of the 1MDB controversy.