Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has launched his latest attack against handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by accusing him of endangering economic growth.

According to financial news service Bloomberg today, Mahathir said the current prime minister, who has been in office for three years, is jeopardising growth and that confidence in his government is waning.

"I don't see any new projects coming in which would boost the economy," he told Bloomberg in an interview held on Monday at his office in Putrajaya.

"The last few years, I don't see any change for the better. It is affecting the nation and the growth of the country."

The 81-year-old ex-leader, who stepped down as prime minister in 2003 after 22 years at the helm, argued that the country should increase spending in technology rather than seeking to boost agricultural production.

He complained that his brainchild, Cyberjaya's Multimedia Super Corridor, had been neglected.

"It's not being sufficiently promoted," he said. "There are a lot of companies which would like to come."

Mahathir also lamented that the present government has failed to "understand that we have to take risks" when investing in information technology.

"If out of 10 or 20 projects you succeed in one, that is a good result," he told Bloomberg .

The ex-PM added that he was not optimistic that his Vision 2020 - a blueprint for Malaysia to become a developed nation by 2020 - would be achieved.

No comments from PM's aide

Mahathir has in recent months been at loggerheads with Abdullah, especially regarding several key decisions such as the scrapping of the bridge project to replace the Johor causeway.

Abdullah's press secretary Azhar Osman told Bloomberg by phone that his boss would not respond to any comments made by Mahathir in the Oct 9 interview.

Mahathir divides his time between two jobs - three days a week as honorary president of the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya and two days a week as adviser to national oil company Petroliam Nasional at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

The interview will be aired on Bloomberg TV channel, which is available on local satellite TV station Astro, at 1pm, 8pm and 11.30pm next Monday.

Meanwhile, CNN' s Talk Asia will be carrying an interview with Abdullah at 7.30am and 11pm on Saturday.