Reports by MARTIN CARVALHO, ASHLEY TANG and FATIMAH ZAINAL

       DESPITE national recovery efforts, the government is forced to fork out RM1.53bil to pay off debts incurred by 1MDB for 2022, the House was told.

       Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator Datuk Idris Ahmad said there was a balance of RM15.76bil under the recovery asset fund which was sufficient to cover a large portion of 1MDB’s principal debts and interest for 2022 which amounted to RM16.18bil.

       “To make up for the shortfall, the government has allocated a total of RM1.53bil to repay the interest debts for 2022,” he said in reply to M. Karupaiya (PH-Padang Serai).

       Based on recovery of RM515mil from Ambank and about RM4bil (US$954mil) from Goldman Sachs, Idris said there was still a total shortfall of RM17bil, with the government having to repay 1MDB’s principal debts and interests totalling RM38.8bil for the period covering 2023 till 2039.

       He said since 2014 and as of Feb 28 this year, SRC International Sdn Bhd paid RM314.72mil and the government paid RM4.774bil as repayment for loans taken from the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP).

       The amount, he added, included repayment of principal loans, profits and late repayments.

       “The latest payment totalling RM610.22mil to KWAP is scheduled to be made this March 28,” he added.

       Earlier, Idris disclosed that the government had to make advance loans amounting to RM10bil to repay 1MDB debts between April 2017 and November 2021.

       So far, he said, the government and Finance Ministry Incorporated had paid a total of RM13.31bil.

       He also said that as of Feb 28, the government managed to recover US, Australian and Singapore currency worth RM19.14bil.

       Of this, he said RM3.31bil was used to repay interest on 1MDB’s bonds and sukuk.