“He is seen as Najib’s (Razak) man. It may or may not be true but that is the perception. There is a lack of trust in many civil servants at the moment. There is a race to replace head of departments with people the present government trusts,” the source told FMT.
He said the second reason could be linked to allegations that the central bank had overpaid for a parcel of land in Kuala Lumpur.
The Star on May 30 quoted sources as saying that Bank Negara was believed to have overpaid for the land it had bought from the Finance Ministry (MoF) when it forked out RM2.066 billion for the 67.41 acres of land.
The proceeds from the deal went to service 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) debt obligations, the paper had said.
Quoting sources, the paper said although the transaction was concluded at RM703.44 per sq ft (psf), the special-purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the MoF to undertake the transaction had initially wanted “a four-figure on a psf basis”, but the price was eventually lowered.
Sources said although Bank Negara might have wanted the piece of land for its own training purposes due to its location next to the bank’s Sasana Kijang complex, there was “no need” to pay RM703.44 psf for it.
In another MoF transaction in 2016/2017, the price psf for a 19.14-acre plot near the current palace was beaten down from RM1,000 to RM775, the source was further quoted.
Analysing Bank Negara’s Lot 41, they said the parcel was categorised as a public open space according to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s zoning maps. In a land search, the category of use was “nil”. In general, it would be categorised as agriculture, building or residential, meaning Bank Negara must pay a sizeable amount on conversion fees.
The paper added that a May 24 MoF release had said that the RM2.066 billion proceeds from the sale of Lot 41 and Khazanah’s redemption of investments amounting to RM1.199 billion were used to service 1MDB’s debt obligations.
The MoF paid RM6.98 billion on behalf of 1MDB between April 19, 2017 and May 11, 2018, a statement issued on May 22 stated.
However, Bank Negara had denied The Star report and said it was inaccurate.
According to Reuters today, it said former Bank Negara Malaysia deputy governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus is among the candidates tipped to succeed governor Muhammad Ibrahim if he resigns.
Malaysia is discussing exit terms for Muhammad and an announcement could be made as early as Wednesday, people aware of the discussions told Reuters.