PUTRAJAYA, May 30 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stands by his decision to scrap the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) link, despite the justification offered by Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders on the purported benefits that would come with the completion of the project.

Responding to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Facebook post that the project would benefit the economy by generating RM650 billion in Gross National Income by 2029 and create 110,000 job opportunities, Dr Mahathir said it was not an "efficient” move.

"Even to spend RM60 to 100 billion so that 100,000 people can work is not very efficient,” he said after a breaking fast event with Cabinet members, civil servants and diplomats at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here.

Najib had on his social media account urged the government to be transparent in its decision to cancel the HSR project.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir repeated his administration’s plan to cancel the HSR link to reduce the burden on public coffers.

He said dropping the project to reduce costs was imperative to address the current state of the country’s debt and finances.