“The impact from this scandal has been prolonged and can be felt until now, so it is critical that a RCI is formed”
KUALA LUMPUR: Two former officials from Bank Negara have come out in support of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe a nineties foreign exchange (forex) scandal, saying the repercussions are being felt to this day.
According to a report by The Malay Mail Online, the bank’s former economic department senior manager, Dr Rosli Yaakop, and former assistant governor, Dato’ Abdul Murad Khalid, were quoted as saying the central bank would have more reserves to prop up the ringgit were it not for the scandal that allegedly cost the bank US$10 billion in the 1990s.
“The impact from this scandal has been prolonged and can be felt until now, so it is critical that a RCI is formed. BNM had lost a chunk of its reserve due to the forex activity back then,” Rosli reportedly said.
His statement followed fresh on the heels of a claim by Murad (READ HERE) that the scandal had cost the Government of Malaysia (GoM) some RM100 billion in foreign reserves.
“We are losing RM4 billion in income annually because of the scandal. The total losses then were US$10 billion which is equivalent to about RM40 billion today.
“The money would have increased to US$ 26.6 billion or more than RM100 billion, if it had been kept in government savings, at a compound interest of four per cent annually,” Murad was quoted as saying yesterday.
