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Bloomberg
As Malaysia grapples with its 1 trillion-ringgit ($252 billion) debt burden, it is banking on public support to raise funds via unconventional methods, from donations to a vanity plate auction.
The government will offer a series of car number plates bearing the country’s name, ranging from Malaysia 1 to Malaysia 9999, to “cultivate love for the country†while generating proceeds for the federal coffers, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said in a press statement Monday. Bidding will start on July 2 and run for two weeks, he said.
The move comes after the finance ministry set up a bank account called Tabung Harapan, or Hope Fund, to collect public donations that has amounted to 31.4 million ringgit in a country with
32 million population.
A previous V-series car number registration auction fetched 22.5 million ringgit in total, with bids for individual plates reaching up to 990,000 ringgit.