Malaysia has refused  a multi-billion dollar China-backed rail project, citing high construction costs. Minister of Economic Affairs, Azmin Ali said Malaysia does not have the financial ability at this time to bear the cost of the project.

He said, if the project would not have been terminated, Malaysia would have to pay a massive interest payment.

The Minister did not say how much compensation Malaysia would have to pay for cancelling the project. He said, it would be determined by the Finance Ministry.

The 19.6 billion US dollars East Coast Rail Link would have connected the eastern and western coasts of the peninsula.

Malaysia has, in recent months, suspended several major projects signed under the country’s previous scandal-plagued regime, in a bid to cut the country’s 251 billion US dollars debt.