So there you have it. The Governor was kept in the dark. Nor Mohamed managed the operation and reported directly to the Finance Minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin, and Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The real losses were more than US$13 billion or RM130 billion at today’s value. The monthly turnover was RM700 billion, while the total forward position was US$150 billion.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Finally, 24 years after Lim Kit Siang first raised this matter in Parliament and demanded for an investigation, tomorrow the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) will be investigating how and why Bank Negara lost US$10 billion gambling on the forex market.
As they say, justice may be delayed but it can never be denied. Even Galileo Galilei was pardoned by the church almost 340 years after he died and 346 years after he was excommunicated. And Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad may finally receive his justice as well, almost 30 years after he first exposed Malaysia to bankruptcy.
Actually, the real loss that Bank Negara suffered was more than US$13 billion and not just US$10 billion. So that would come to US$30 billion today or about RM130 billion at today’s value. So to say Malaysia lost ‘just’ RM30 billion is not quite accurate. That is RM100 billion less than the RM130 billion that the country lost in real terms.
More importantly, Bank Negara was gambling at the rate of RM700 billion a month and the total forward position was US$150 billion. And considering Malaysia’s reserves at that time was only US$20 billion, those figures are crazy and the criminal should be shot, like what they would do in China.
The man behind the entire operation was Nor Mohamed Yakcop and even Jaafar Hussein, Bank Negara’s Governor at that time, was kept in the dark. But then Jaafar was made the kambing hitam (sacrificial lamb) and even Kit Siang told Parliament that Jaafar should have been given a medal instead of punished for a crime he never committed.
So there you have it. The Governor was kept in the dark. Nor Mohamed managed the operation and reported directly to the Finance Minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin, and Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The real losses were more than US$13 billion or RM130 billion at today’s value. The monthly turnover was RM700 billion while the total forward position was US$150 billion.
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