RM152b EPF investments equal cost of 1,000 hospitals, says MP

An opposition lawmaker has cried foul over the Ministry of Finance's (MOF) disclosure that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) invested a total of RM152 billion in the United States as of June 2017.

Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said the same amount could have been used to build 50 Penang Second Bridges, 3.5 East Coast Rail Lines (ECRL), four Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rails (HSR), 4.6 million units of low-cost houses and 1,000 new hospitals.

"Malaysia is making the US great again, in a big way," the PKR MP told a press conference in Parliament. "People are asking, why not make Malaysia great again?"

Sim recalled that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, during his visit to the US in September, had said that EPF invested US$7 billion (RM29.4 billion) in the equity market and would further invest US$3 billion to US$4 billion in infrastructure projects in the US.

"Following this, the people were curious to know how much the government spent in the US. Therefore, I posed the question to the finance minister.

"The answer I received, however, was beyond my expectation. In fact, EPF's investment in the US has exceeded RM152 billion, much bigger than the RM29.4 billion claimed by Najib.

In a parliamentary reply to Sim, MOF said the RM152 billion was less than 20 percent of EPF's RM759.78 billion total assets abroad.

However, these assets included all forms of investments and were not limited to equity alone.

MOF also said EPF had initiated its overseas investment in 2006 as part of an initiative to diversify its investments.

The ministry revealed that it recorded a 9.73 percent return on its overseas investment as of 2016.

With regard to Sim's question on the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), MOF said KWAP has recorded a total RM546 million investment in the US, including RM286 million in equity, RM244 million in private equity and RM16 million in Islamic bond.

The Bayan Baru MP had also asked the finance minister to provide details of the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) and Lembaga Tabung Haji's investments in the US as well.

However, MOF replied that the two had no investments in the US.

- Mkini