Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) encountered problems because of a failed initial public offering (IPO) exercise.
Najib said 1MDB used the debt funding approach to operate its business and it required an IPO to be undertaken in the shortest possible time.
"At the time, we tried different approaches as we did not want to utilise government funds. Government funds can be used for other projects or programmes. For 1MDB, we utilised 'debt funding' on condition that we will undertake an IPO very soon. Yet, we did not foresee that 1MDB would come under relentless "attacks", Najib told Bernama.
"When the 'attacks' were mounted, the IPO exercise could not be carried out, hence the cash flow problems," he said in an exclusive interview telecast live over TV1 in conjunction with the Umno's 70th anniversary.
Najib also said a report on 1MDB was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in order to establish if there were any irregularities or wrong doings, on his part, in the company.
He said that PAC has already presented its findings. "PAC Deputy Chairman, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, an opposition party member has made a public statement and opined that I did nothing wrong in 1MDB," the PM said.
"I consider the 1MDB issue as a business problem (perhaps) its business model was not so suitable, its gearing was very high," he continued. He added that this entire incident was turned into a political issue by certain quarters who used it to try and topple him.
