PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed on Wednesday that the county's central bank governor Muhammad Ibrahim has submitted his resignation but the cabinet has not decided on a successor.
Mahathir, speaking to the press after the weekly cabinet meeting, said he will meet King Sultan Muhammad V as soon as possible for the appointment of a new central bank governor.
Muhammad Ibrahim, a career central bank official who took over the job from Zeti Akhtar Aziz in May 2016, has not finished half of his five-year term.
Reasons for his resignation were not given. But after Mahathir took power, the new government said last month that it uncovered a suspicious land deal from which more than 2 billion ringgit (503 million U.S. dollars) paid by the central bank was suspected to be used for paying the debt of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB.
The volume of the money was considered by some to be abnormal since the land was supposed to develop a financial education hub.
The central bank defended the deal afterwards, saying in a statement that the deal was initiated by the bank and was transacted at fair value.
The upcoming replacement of the central bank governor is only part of the shakeup following the election victory of Mahathir, who ended the 61-year rule of the Barisan Nasional government.
Mahathir also appointed a new attorney-general and replaced the head of the powerful anti-corruption agency.
