Writing on his blog today, Dr Mahathir also accused Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — whom he had appointed finance minister and deputy prime minister — of implementing policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to tighten conditions for bank loans and cutting government expenditure during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
Dr Mahathir conceded, however, that Anwar had not opposed his decision to impose capital controls that helped Malaysia stem capital flight.
Instead, he said the Bank Negara governor and deputy governor at the time — whom he called Anwar appointees — refused to implement capital controls and resigned.
Dr Mahathir has been engaging in a verbal war over the past week with Anwar and PKR leaders over their respective roles and actions during the Asian Financial Crisis.
The former premier issued a challenge last week to Opposition Leader Anwar over allegations of a purported letter that the former had written to the World Bank to appeal for funds during the financial crisis.
PKR has since produced World Bank records showing that Dr Mahathir’s administration had accepted financial aid numerous times from May 18, 1982 to Malaysia’s post-financial crisis period of March 30, 1999.
This includes three loans for projects inked six months after Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister in September 1998.
Dr Mahathir said today any claim that he wrote to the World Bank was baseless. He added that Malaysia had borrowed from the World Bank since 1958.
The last negotiation for loans, he said, was in 1997, but the funds were not disbursed until 1999.
“The World Bank wanted Malaysia to request for loans to tide over the crisis like the other countries affected by currency trading. The loans would be conditional upon Malaysia following IMF advice on economic management.
“It is well known that Malaysia refused to seek IMF or World Bank help because the so-called help would worsen the financial situation. Instead, in 1998 Malaysia imposed currency control which helped it to recover,” the former PM said today.
Malaysia, he said, eventually stopped drawing down on the loans from the World Bank, but the move did not prevent the country from recovering from the crisis.
“As the whole world knows, Anwar was reported in the press and foreign magazines for implementing the IMF policy without the IMF loans. He raised interest rates, reduced the period for declaring loans non-performing from six months to three months, reduced budget allocation to ministries so as to achieve a budget surplus, etc.
“Although he did not oppose currency controls, his appointees as governor and deputy governor of Bank Negara refused to implement the policy and resigned.”
Dr Mahathir added that he was prepared to swear on the Quran that he never asked personally for World Bank loans.
Malaysia first or Islam first?
ReplyDeleteRecently the Malaysian King, the Agung, emphasized on the special position of Islam in Malaysia. That’s not the point. The point is, which comes first, Malaysia or Islam? Rightly, Malaysia comes first and foremost. Always, Malaysia comes first. Is the Agung aware of this? If they choose Islam first, then…………..
If they choose Islam first, then it is time for all non-Muslim Malaysians to give strong moral support to the Philippine’s claim to Sabah. Philippines is a non-Muslim nation; and therefore all non-Muslim Malaysians should give moral support to the Philippine claim to Sabah.
Malaysia first or Islam first?
The Islamic scriptures allows for slavery. Islam is not egalitarian.
In addition, we need to know more about the Malay Regiment. Again, Malaysia first or Islam first?Does the Malay Regiment put Islam first or Malaysia first? The Malay Regiment has to choose between Malaysia first or Islam first because they cannot have both. The Islamic scriptures allows for slavery. All Malaysian citizens have to put Malaysia first.
At the global level, both Mandarin language and English will compete for influence. It is often a numbers game; and believe me that China with more than a billion people has an advantage in any numbers game. May be Chinese English will eventually be tolerated world-wide. (I define Chinese English as L1 interference English). Since China has a growing economy and more than 1 billion people, it would eventually be hard to avoid L1 interference English; and we also have to tolerate code-switching by bi-lingual and tri-lingual speakers. The Chinese Malaysians should make sure that Mandarin medium schools grow in Malaysia.
By the way, the indigenous people of Malaya are the Orang Asli, not Malays. The Orang Asli are not even mentioned in the Constitution. Furthermore, another person who should hold his tongue and stop making comments is Dr.Chandra Muzzafar. Dr.Chandra Muzzafar has no influence among Malaysian Indians. If Dr.Chandra Muzzafar does make any comments, please ignore it.
The bottom line is that, no matter who says what, the future is that with every passing day both China and India are growing socially, politically, and economically. I don't care who says what; and I don't care who does what. Nothing can change the fact that with every passing day both China and India are strengthening socially, politically, and economically. That's it. The bottom line is the bottom line.