KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is refusing to accept former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s rejection of the claim he left the government with just RM450 million in the Consolidated Revenue Account.

Lim accused Najib of treating Malaysians as gullible with the denial and or attempting to divert attention towards the ringgit’s performance in the foreign exchange market.

He also insisted Najib was conflating the Consolidated Revenue Account with the Consolidated Fund and maintained that there was an RM11.4 billion shortfall.

“Legally, the government can only use the Consolidated Revenue Account for its operating expenditures,” Lim said in a statement today.

Lim rejected Najib’s argument that he was not the finance minister who prepared the government’s accounts for the period ending April 30, 2018, from which Lim is citing to depict the shortfall.

He told his predecessor to stop feigning ignorance on the matter and repeated his demand for an explanation.

Najib denied the allegation on September 8 and raised the issue again ten days later to say Lim was ignoring his explanation and suggested the latter was no longer broaching the topic.