Investment or bailout of MAS depends on return on investment, says PKR lawmaker

(The Rakyat Post) – A PKR lawmaker said it was “disingenuous” for the Prime Minister to claim that no public funds were involved in the restructuring of Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

Kelana Jaya Member of Parliament Wong Chen said this was because Datuk Seri Najib Razak knew that Khazanah Nasional Berhad, which injected RM6 billion into the ailing national carrier, was owned “100%” by the government.

Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, had earlier today stressed the sum to be used for MAS’ restructuring was not a bailout, but an investment.

The Prime Minister went on to explain that since the funding was an investment, the money used did not come from public funds.

He also claimed the RM6 billion was recoverable, although it may take more than three years.

Wong, who is the former investment and trade chairman for PKR, said that whether the restructuring was an investment or a bailout depended on the future return on investment (ROI).

“Khazanah has to show that its ROI is above the borrowing cost of 5% in order to label the restructuring as an investment.

“If it’s less than 5%, then it is a bailout,” he told The Rakyat Post.

Najib, Wong said, should not hide behind words such as “bailout” or “investment”, but needed to explain to the people the expected returns.

The public, he said, would like to have much greater disclosures.