Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has warned of debt traps such as the East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) project, likening it to buying a diamond for a wife.
"Supposedly you want to buy a diamond for your wife with your money but you can't afford it. What can you do? You borrow money and buy the diamond ring, then forever be in debt. That is not wise.
"The previous government borrowed money, huge sums of money. To borrow money under very bad conditions and to pay very high interest.
"We are not going to make money having the (ECRL) train or having the high-speed train. We cannot afford it.
"If we go on with it, we will be owing billions and billions of ringgit," Mahathir said to 500 from the Malaysian diaspora during a dinner held at the China World Summing Wing Hotel in Beijing yesterday.
