Malaysia to shelve China projects worth $22 billion

Malaysia will shelve three China-backed projects worth a total $22 billion until the debt-laden Southeast Asian nation can afford to pay for them, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday during a visit to Beijing.

The projects include a railway connecting Malaysia’s east coast to southern Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, and two gas pipelines. “I explained to (the Chinese leaders) why we can’t have the ECRL (East Coast Rail Link),” Mahathir told Malaysian reporters at the end of his five-day visit, saying the project “will be deferred until such time when we can afford (it)”. “It’s about borrowing too much money, which we cannot afford, we cannot repay, and also because we don’t need those projects for Malaysia at this moment... our problem now is how to solve our financial deficit.”

Mahathir is trying to reduce Malaysia’s national debt, which has ballooned to some $250 billion.