Anwar scheduled to appear before RCI today

Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to appear before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Bank Negara Malaysia’s foreign exchange (forex) trading losses in the 1990s today.

His lawyer R. Sivarasa said this was based on the witness list provided by the conducting officer.

“According to the witness list, he is to testify tomorrow (Thursday),” he said at the sidelines of the inquiry held at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on Wednesday.

The forex losses, alleged to be about RM32bil, is believed to have happened between 1987 and 1992.

Anwar, who is serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomy, has been one of the focal points in the ongoing RCI proceedings as he was the finance minister during that period.

His name was also mentioned by former Bank Negara deputy governor Datuk Murad Abdul Khalid during the testimony, which Anwar said had “incriminated him”.

Murad alleged that Anwar had briefed him on the forex losses on a flight to Hawaii in early 1994, and said that if those losses were made public, he would have to resign as finance minister.

Anwar, in a recent statement, responded by saying that such a statement had a “malicious insinuation”, which implied that there was a cover-up.

He also said he was prepared to be called by the RCI as he was the finance minister at the time.

Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, who is Petronas chairman, chairs the five-man panel.

The other members of the RCI are High Court judge Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, co-chairman of the Special Task Force to facilitate Business (Pemudah) Tan Sri Saw Choo Boon and Malaysian Institute of Accountants member K. Puspanathan.