Govt confident of reducing MRT3 costs to below RM45b, says Anwar

• “This effort [to reduce the price] is in line with the renewed drive to improve governance, to reduce the procurement cost to achieve savings that can be shared for the benefit of the rakyat.”
• The cost of the project — slated to connect various rail services in the Greater Klang Valley — had earlier been estimated at RM68 billion as recently as in 2018.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said his administration is reviewing the Mass Rapid Transit 3 (MRT3) project, and is confident of achieving further savings and bringing down the price tag to under RM45 billion, from RM50 billion announced by the previous government.

The cost of the project — slated to connect various rail services in the Greater Klang Valley — had earlier been estimated at RM68 billion as recently as in 2018.

“This effort [to reduce the price] is in line with the renewed drive to improve governance, to reduce the procurement cost to achieve savings that can be shared for the benefit of the rakyat,” said Anwar, who is also finance minister, when tabling the revised Budget 2023.

The RM50 billion that the previous administration had committed to fund the MRT3 project includes an allocation of RM11 billion for financing charges, according to news reports.

The Edge, in a report in its Feb 20-24 edition, quoted sources as saying that the government is working towards reducing the costs by slashing the project management cost that is currently estimated at RM9 billion.

The proposal for the project — which will have 10 link interchanges — has undergone various changes in the past, particularly on the financing arrangement.

MRT Corp Bhd had announced plans to implement a hybrid financing method. But that may be replaced with full funding by the government, via government-guaranteed debt through DanaInfra, which can borrow cheaper from the market, according to The Edge report.