Amid falling oil revenue, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the upcoming budget will be among the most difficult he has ever tabled.
He said the government received RM26 billion in dividends from Petronas this year, but the national oil company is seeking to slash that amount to a mere RM9 billion next year.
“I said cannot. We have to negotiate this. Can you imagine: From RM26 billion down to RM9 billion, which means a RM15 billion deficit. Where am I going to find RM15 billion?
“Everywhere I go, people ask for more projects […] But no one tells me: ‘Datuk Seri, I asked for this school and this road, but you can increase government revenue from somewhere.’ Nobody says that,” Najib lamented at the Gerakan National Delegates’ Conference today.
He stressed that as revenues come down, he is left with few options except to either raise revenues or cut back on expenses.
Perhaps Mr Razak would care to ask his official 1MDB Advisor Jho Low where he can find RM15 billion for next year?
After all, plenty more than this has gone missing from the fund.
US$700 million (ie RM3 bn) went into Jho Low’s account on the first day of the first deal, prompting the resignation of the Chairman of the Board two weeks later.
US$1.4 billion (RM6 billion) then disappeared in transit from 1MDB to the Aabar fund over those Power Purchase deals. Nightclubbing pals Jho Low and Khadem Al Qubaisi organised that with Goldman Sachs, so ask them to pay it back?
Then there was another US$1.4 billion (RM6 billion) that simply evaporated from the 2013 1MDB Aabar “Strategic Partnership” – Bingo that makes RM15 billion.. minus a considerable amount spent on Crystal Champagne, fireworks, fast cars, loose girls and the like.
Even faster, he could tap that “donated election money for UMNO”, over US$600 million (RM2.5 billion) of which he transferred back out of his AM Bank in KL to personal bank accounts in Singapore towards the end of 2013.
Oh! of course, he can’t do that. Those bank accounts are now frozen pending money laundering enquiries by the Singapore authorities!