KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the planned Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) will have to be deferred because it will be difficult to reduce the price of the project.

According to news reports quoting Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, the cost to build the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR was estimated at RM110 billion.

Dr Mahathir told reporters at the Parliament lobby today Singapore was keen to know Malaysia's stand on the HSR, hence Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali's official meeting with Singapore government officials by the end of this month (July 2018).

Dr Mahathir said today: "The problem is if we unilaterally discard the agreement, we have to pay a very high compensation. Actually, we cannot say that we will never build the HSR but at this moment we don't have the funds, so we need to delay the implementation."

"At the moment, when we look at the financial situation, we feel we cannot go ahead with the project but having studied it and the implications of unilaterally discarding the contract and the cost of it, we decided we may have to do it at a later date or we may have to reduce the price. The reduction of the price is very difficult as far as we can make out. So it will have to be deferred," he said.

Later, Azmin told reporters that Dr Mahathir made it clear that it is not about cancelling the HSR but the entire project has to be reviewed.

Azmin said: "We would have to revisit the agreement and see if we need to come up with a supplementary agreement. I cannot say what the position is on the other side until we have met with them.

"The priority now is to reduce the debt we are facing now, so if the project is viable at a later stage then we can discuss. (In cutting cost) we have to make sure the process is transparent and that we are accountable to the people. That is also the priority of the Singapore government."