# Anwar takes over as finance minister from Daim Zainuddin

Date: 1991

## The fact

On 15 March 1991 [Anwar Ibrahim](/people/anwar-ibrahim) became Malaysia’s finance minister, succeeding Daim Zainuddin in Mahathir’s Cabinet. Euromoney and Asiamoney later ranked the 1990s tenure. He did not write Bank Negara’s overnight rate. The 1998 sacking is a child.

## Context

Mahathir appointed. Treasury implements. Capital-market liberalisation and later AFC conflict sat ahead. He did not sit as BNM governor.

Sacking 2 September 1998 is the child end of this portfolio. The 2022 Finance retake is a later separate row.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia advises the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, chairs Cabinet, and is appointed under Articles 40 and 43 of the Federal Constitution. He does not write Bank Negara Malaysia policy rates, does not sit as every state menteri besar, and does not author a United States or China statute. A 1999–2018 prosecution or pardon cluster is not a 2023 subsidy. Allegation is not a completed personal conviction unless a court so held. A 2027 general election is not this page’s completed Fact. As of 27 August 2026 he remains prime minister.

## Evidence and sources

Ministry of Finance Malaysia carries the official instrument or communique. UPI records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is [fiscal-policy sustainability](/drivers/fiscal-policy-sustainability) and industrial policy: a completed 1990s finance appointment during high-growth years.

## What is established and what is not

Established: 15 March 1991 finance-minister start, independently reported.

Not established: a unique later 1997 crisis coefficient from that Friday, or that he uniquely wrote every BNM rate.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

He took Finance. Treasury and BNM share the 1990s file. Daim left.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Anwar takes over as finance minister from Daim Zainuddin, not a later speech about Anwar takes over as finance minister from Daim Zainuddin.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Anwar takes over as finance minister from Daim Zainuddin on 1991-03-15 is not a licence to treat every later Ministry of Finance Malaysia communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Anwar takes over as finance minister from Daim Zainuddin into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to Mahathir appointed. He took Finance. Treasury and BNM share the 1990s file. Daim left. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Anwar Ibrahim: https://factrail.ai/people/anwar-ibrahim

## Drivers

- Fiscal-Policy Sustainability: https://factrail.ai/drivers/fiscal-policy-sustainability
- Industrial-Policy Activism: https://factrail.ai/drivers/industrial-policy-activism

## Sources

- https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/09/Malaysian-Cabinet-resuffled/6813666075600/
- https://www.mof.gov.my/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/my-anwar-fm-1991