US DOJ case not about Malaysian economy: Irwan Serigar

The United States Department of Justice's (DoJ) civil suit to recover assets derived from alleged misappropriation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds will not affect the country's sovereign ratings, says Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

The Treasury Secretary-General said the civil lawsuit is not even about the economy.

"That has nothing to do with the economy," he said in response to a question from members of the media after closing a Bahasa Inggeris 1Malaysia (BI1M) pilot programme here today.

On July 20, the US DoJ filed a civil lawsuit to seize assets acquired with money allegedly misapproriated from 1MDB.

Asked on the downgrade of Petronas's Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Defaul Ratings to "A-" from "A" by Fitch Ratings recently, Mohd Irwan Serigar said it was just a 'temporary thing'.

"Petronas is a profit generating entity, in terms of performance it is good, but because of the world environment -- the oil prices and everything -- it is a temporary kind of thing.

"In terms of jobs creation, Petronas is still creating jobs, the Rapid (Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development) project is still going ahead so there is no worry about future ratings," he added.