PUTRAJAYA, Sept 6 — Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop testified today that he did not talk about Bank Negara Malaysia's currency trading from 80s and 90s with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or his deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Nor Mohamed was assistant governor when BNM reportedly lost over RM30 billion through rampant currency trading, and was in charge of the central bank's active reserve management at the time.
Testifying today before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating the losses, he said he never broached the topic with either government leaders during his time at BNM from 1986 to 1993.
“I had never discussed with the finance minister regarding the forex activity,” he said. “I had never discussed with the prime minister regarding the forex activity.”
Nor Mohamed also denied he was "handpicked" by Dr Mahathir for the BNM position.
However, he conceded there was a "probability" that the prime minister or finance minister at the time would have known about the currency trading via other sources, such as the governor or BNM's annual reports.
Anwar is scheduled to testify before the RCI tomorrow, but Dr Mahathir’s name has not appeared in the witness list so far.
