M'sia mulls securing 'cheap' Samurai bond again
Six months after Malaysia secured a 200 billion yen (RM7.3 billion) Samurai bond, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed that Putrajaya is considering obtaining the "cheap" bond for a second time.
"Yes," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today when asked to confirm a report that Malaysia is mulling obtaining the Japanese bond...
Six months after Malaysia secured a 200 billion yen (RM7.3 billion) Samurai bond, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed that Putrajaya is considering obtaining the "cheap" bond for a second time.
"Yes," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today when asked to confirm a report that Malaysia is mulling obtaining the Japanese bond.
"Japan is making available very cheap loans, below 0.65 (percent) previously. Now it will be even lower.
"So, we are studying how we can use this cheap money to overcome our financial problems," he said.
Pakatan Harapan had sought financial assistance from the Japanese government to repay 1MDB loans and other debts.
The Samurai bond issued back in March was guaranteed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) with a maturity tenure of 10 years, with a full cost to the government at 0.63 percent per annum.
BN's Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman questioned if there are any possible strings attached to Japan's guarantee.
Mahathir had previously stressed that there are no strings attached to the Samurai bond.
In July, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak alleged that the national debt had breached the RM800 billion mark.
According to Najib's formula, the federal government had raised RM77.8 billion this year alone - RM70.5 billion in local sukuk and RM7.3 billion from a Japanese samurai bond - while redemption was RM17.7 billion.
Putrajaya is on talk with its Chinese counterpart in securing Panda bond which Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng claimed weeks ago that Putrajaya was still unhappy with the rate offered by the other side.
As such, the government is still undecided about the panda bond.
In February, China's Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian raised the proposal of panda bond to held with country's finances.
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