Umno Youth wants RCI to probe if Bank Negara went bankrupt in 1991

(NST) – Umno Youth today demanded that the government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) foreign exchange (forex) market losses in the early 1990s.

Its deputy chief Khairul Azwan Harun said Umno Youth views the issue seriously and wants those responsible to be identified quickly.

“Umno Youth views seriously the expose made by former BNM assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid on the mega losses in currency transactions in 1991, which led the central bank to suffer severe financial issues.

“Umno Youth also wants an investigation to confirm that there was an attempt to cover up the forex trading exposures amounting to USD150 billion (RM664.13 bil) and forex trading loss of more than USD30 billion (RM132.83 bil),” he told a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre today.

Asked on the amount of the losses, which were different than those was revealed in reports, Khairul said Umno Youth had done its own initiative to check on the exact amount and were informed that it totalled more than USD10 billion.

A New Straits Times report had quoted Murad as saying that the central bank suffered forex losses amounting to USD10 billion in the early 1990s, which is much higher than the RM9 billion it previously disclosed.