Malaysia’s Finance Ministry has discovered dubious payments made to two pipeline projects, with nearly 90 per cent of the contracts worth RM9.4 billion (US$2.4 billion) being paid out but only 13 per cent of the work being completed. Previously, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had given a breakdown of government debt and liabilities exceeding 1 trillion ringgit ($251 billion), a figure that has fueled market worries and raised the prospect of a credit-rating downgrade. Ratings agencies are likely to cut Malaysia’s sovereign ratings sooner rather than later, if the nation’s fiscal health deteriorates significantly due to contingent liabilities arising from state fund 1MDB, Brown Brothers Harriman strategists Marc Chandler and Win Thin wrote in a note. In defense, Lim said the fundamentals of the economy are strong, the financial sector is stable, and banks were well-capitalized.