Dr M says took, but never sought, World Bank loans
(The Malaysian Insider) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that Malaysia has taken World Bank loans since 1958, but the former prime minister said he had never personally written a letter or verbally requested for such funds.
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.
