KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia's government says its "tight" finances require special measures to fund expenditures, after coming under fire for tapping a reserve trust fund backed by state energy company Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) to pay for COVID-19 vaccines.
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz on Monday told reporters there is nothing inappropriate about the move to draw roughly 5 billion ringgit ($1.22 billion) from the National Trust Fund, a dedicated reserve for future development created in 1998.
