KOTA KINABALU: State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (
pic) has clarified that the repayment of the RM1 billion Sabah State Government bond in 2019 was the result of long-term planning dating back to 2014.
In a statement on Wednesday, he said that Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal's claim that the repayment was a major achievement of the Warisan administration in just one year was misleading.
He explained that Bank Negara Malaysia had required the State Government to set up a dedicated Sinking Fund to ensure full repayment when the bond matured in 2019.
The fund, he said, was created to avoid a heavy financial burden on the State Government at the time of repayment, regardless of which party was in power.
Masidi detailed that contributions to the Sinking Fund were made progressively: RM2 million in 2016, RM200 million in 2017, RM400 million in 2018, and RM380 million in 2019, with RM18 million coming from investment returns.
He said the suggestion that Warisan had to find RM600 million within months ignored the fact that the payment schedule had been set since 2014, with funds already allocated.
During Warisan’s administration, Masidi noted, the only payment presented was RM380 million, which would have been the responsibility of any government in office at the time.
He also dismissed Shafie’s claim that RM500 million from the bond was spent outside Sabah, calling it baseless and unsupported by evidence.
Masidi said official records confirmed that RM544 million was used to repay the first state bond issued in 2009, with the remaining RM456 million funding state development programmes approved in the 2014 State Budget.
He stressed that public statements on state finances should be based on documented facts, ensuring Sabahans receive information that is clear, accurate, and truthful.
