JOHOR BARU: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he is responsible for making decisions on the selling and disposal of government strategic assets.
“I am the chairman of Khazanah Nasional, so in a way, I am involved.” he said.
Dr Mahathir added that the government’s sovereign wealth fund owns the assets and had the authority to dispose of them.
“We had to sell the assets to raise funds to pay the debts left by the previous government as they borrowed too much, about RM1 trillion,” he said.
The prime minister was commenting on a report in a local daily that quoted Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng as saying that the sale or disposal of government strategic assets fell under the purview of the prime minister.
Speaking at a press conference after visiting the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex at the Sultan Iskandar Building, here, Dr Mahathir said the selling of government assets would involve a tender process so that they could get the highest bidder.
“We are selling the assets at good prices and get a good profit,” he added.