PUTRAJAYA, Oct 4 — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has received other proposals from Khazanah Nasional Bhd on PLUS Malaysia Bhd takeover, deemed as more attractive and beneficial to the rakyat, said minister Lim Guan Eng.

He said although the MoF had yet to receive the proposal from Hong Kong-based private equity firm RRJ Capital, proposals from business entities could not be better than the proposals by the public sector.

“Proposals from business entities, they have a profit element. If there is no profit element, they would not want to purchase. Other proposals from Khazanah do not have this profit element and definitely would be better for the rakyat when there is no profit element involved,” said Lim when met by reporters here today.

He was commenting on a news report that RRJ Capital had proposed RM3 billion bid for PLUS, and if the bid was successful, the company would reduce toll rates by 20 per cent across the board.

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“At the end of the day, do you want the PLUS highway to be a public good or a private good? If private good then put in the profit element, which means higher tolls to be paid by the rakyat, or public good without profit element, which means lesser tolls to be paid,” he added.

On progress dealing with the country’s RM1 trillion debt, Lim said it was a “painful and difficult” process.

“It is not easy; it cannot be done overnight. Even though we have to continue our borrowings to fund our development expenditure, our books are now open for truthful reporting,” he said.

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Asked whether MoF has been in talks with Goldman Sachs Group Inc following the firm’s intention to resolve its entanglement with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) affair and help return the money to Malaysia, Lim said: “No discussion with Goldman Sachs but we are proceeding with our legal process and action that are being handled by the attorney general.” — Bernama