No money from 1MDB transferred into PM's account: Arul Kanda

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has never transferred money into caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts, according to President Arul Kanda Kandasamy.
"1MDB has never transferred even a single sen into the Prime Minister's personal accounts," he said during a Facebook Live session on the Friends of BN page today.
Arul Kanda explained that the alleged RM2.6 billion transfer was among the hot topics that were frequently asked during his townhall sessions that are held to explain issues related to 1MDB.
"Since taking over as President and Chief Executive Officer of 1MDB in January 2015, I have done talks and roadshows as well as interviews with local and international media such as BBC News, Bloomberg TV, and the Financial Times. This is not something new," he said.
Arul Kanda said the public's understanding of the issue had improved due to the explanations that were given during the townhall sessions.
However, he said, since early this year, the opposition had reopened the 1MDB story and recycled old news that were no longer relevant.
"As a company that is wholly-owned by the government, 1MDB made the decision to conduct roadshows so that all the public's questions regarding the issue were answered. To date, I have held information sessions at 30 locations nationwide," he noted.
Apart from roadshows, information on 1MDB can be found at the www.arulkanda.com website that collects articles, blogs, interviews and short explanatory videos by Arul Kanda regarding the 1MDB issue.
Meanwhile, commenting on the country's debt status, Arul Kanda said the people should compare the country's debt level and gross domestic product (GDP) to get the real picture on the nation's debt status.
The federal government debt as of the end of 2017 stood at RM686.8 billion or 50.8% of GDP, which is much lower compared with other countries.
"The government has the ability to pay the debt, besides having a policy of reducing the gap between national revenue and debt level," added Arul Kanda. — Bernama