1MDB's failure to settle arbitration payment due to 'technical reasons': Najib (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)'s failure to settle the arbitration payment is due to "technical reasons".
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak told the Dewan Rakyat that the matter will not affect the confidence of investors.
"A statement has been released on the 1MDB (issue).
"It is a question of technicality and not a question of inability to repay.
"So I think it will not affect investors' confidence in the economy," he said in response to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh).
She had questioned Najib on 1MDB's failure to repay debts, which could affect foreign investments into the country.
"Although you are confident of the economic progress in the country, the progress is disrupted when 1MDB cannot repay its debts of US$600 million (RM2.5 billion) to the International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic).
"Investors may be worried because of this," she said.
It was reported on Aug 1, that Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund had given 1MDB five days to make the US$600 million payment, which it failed to pay by July 31.
1MDB had in a statement on Tuesday said it was committed to meeting its obligations to Abu Dhabi's Ipic in August.
It however did not specify a date the payment would be settled.
It said all payments to Ipic would be made from the proceeds of 1MDB's rationalisation plan, under which it is selling assets.
1MDB said the delay was also due to the need to get more "regulatory approvals".
On another issue, Najib said a conducive environment is a determining factor for Malaysia to become a high-income nation.
Reiterating that Malaysia is not a failed state, Najib said the government has been consistent in its initiatives towards progress.
"The government has prepared the National Transformation Plan 2020 to lift the country to become a high income developed nation by 2020.
"Yet, that achievement is entirely dependent on an external and internal environment that is conducive," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Najib was responding to Datuk Seri Amhamd Hamzah (BN-Jasin), who asked what is the probability of Malaysia attaining the high income nation status by 2020 after taking into consideration the Central Bank's estimation that the economy will be strengthened this year.