A bailout is likely the only option for Putrajaya to help 1MDB meet its debt obligations to Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), said Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

Pua, the opposition's chief critic on 1MDB affairs, said this was because banks around the world would refuse to be involved with the "investment fund units" which 1MDB said would help finance the debt.

In April, 1MDB and IPIC managed to avoid an arbitration process by opting instead for a settlement which would oblige 1MDB to pay US$1.2 billion this year, in two equal payments...