KUALA LUMPUR: Debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) will continue to spend on its corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects as the sovereign wealth fund is expected to be profitable in its current financial year ending March 31, 2015 (FY15), said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

“I am confident that 1MDB will return to profitability [in FY15],” he told a press conference at Parliament yesterday as he drew attention to 1MDB’s slew of CSR projects since it was formed in 2009.

So far, 1MDB has spent a total of RM382.32 million on CSR projects, said Ahmad.

There has been too much negative publicity on 1MDB lately, he said. Despite the losses for FY14, the sovereign wealth fund will continue with its CSR projects next year, he stressed.

Some of the CSR projects include a RM76 million allocation for Bantuan Teksi Rakyat 1Malaysia (TR1MA 1.0 and TR1MA 2.0) where 67,470 taxi drivers were given tyre subsidies in 2012 and 2013, RM90.5 million for the Nadi Kasih programme to repair 600 dilapidated homes for the poor in 2011 and RM60.6 million for the German Akademik JPA (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam) scholarships to 900 SPM students to study abroad in 2009 and 2010.

Ahmad also said 1MDB is managed by responsible and credible directors, and urged the media to give fair coverage on the sovereign wealth fund.

1MDB posted a massive net loss of RM665.4 million for FY14 due to a sharp rise in interest expenses and substantially lower revaluation gain.

Its finance costs ballooned to RM2.4 billion in FY14 from RM1.62 billion in the previous financial year, while its revaluation gain shrunk to RM897 million, 67% lower than RM2.74 billion in FY13. Over the past five years, 1MDB has borrowed some RM40 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 21, 2014.