COMMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wants to shut down government-linked companies that are consistently making losses. That is most welcome but what is Anwar, also finance minister, waiting for? He had the full authority to do so since November 2022.

“If these companies are unprofitable, we will close them,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara recently.

There are no benefits to establishing a company, having a board of directors and allowances, and continuing to incur losses, he added.

Recently, the 2023 Auditor-General’s Report revealed that 86 out of 217 federal government agency subsidiaries reported losses totalling RM2.81 billion. Why not audit them and close the unviable ones, saving billions?