Cabinet to discuss proposal to make Tabung Haji RCI report public

 

The cabinet will discuss a proposal to make public the final report of the royal commission of inquiry on Tabung Haji (TH) before making a decision, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Hasan.

He said the matter arose following confusion and allegations that the former Treasury secretary-general had sold TH’s strategic assets.

“I want to stress that the allegation that the former Treasury secretary-general sold TH’s strategic assets is untrue and false.

“What actually happened was a bailout operation to save a financial institution serving Muslims, which had been affected by the reckless misappropriation of depositors’ funds before 2018,” he said.

Zulkifli was replying to a supplementary question from Senator Noor Inayah Ya'akub on the allegation that the former Treasury secretary-general had sold TH’s strategic assets in the Dewan Negara today.

He said the sale of TH assets that were underperforming and problematic to the government-owned special purpose vehicle Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJSB) was a collective decision by the cabinet in 2018.

Zulkifli said the auditor-general and Bank Negara had revealed TH’s serious financial problems when the institution’s asset-liability deficit reached RM10.9 billion that year.

Crisis of confidence

At the time, he stated that about RM6 billion was also withdrawn by depositors within a short period following a crisis of confidence, while efforts to obtain a standby loan failed.

He also said the government was at risk of assuming liabilities of about RM74.5 billion if TH collapsed, as deposits in the institution were fully guaranteed by the government.

Therefore, Zulkifli said the decision to rescue TH had proven successful, with the institution’s deposits increasing from about RM69.4 billion in 2019 to more than RM95.1 billion as of the middle of this year.

The profit distribution rate also increased from 1.25 percent in 2018 to 3.5 percent for 2025, the highest in eight years, while the cost of performing the haj has remained unchanged for three consecutive years from 2024 to 2026 despite inflation.

- Bernama