Don't worry, Zafrul still finance minister, says deputy Shahar

 

PARLIAMENT | Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz is still the finance minister, stressed Deputy Finance Minister Mohd Shahar Abdullah. 

“He is still serving as the finance minister. No resignation (letter from him), this is what I would like to tell Pokok Sena (MP Mahfuz Omar),” he told Dewan Rakyat during the question-and-answer session today. 

“I told him (Mahfuz) outside the House that day, and now I am informing the House. I hope Pokok Sena (MP) does not raise the issue again,” Shahar (above) replied. 

Mahfuz asked if Zafrul was no longer the finance minister following speculations that he had resigned after the minister did not show up in Parliament last Thursday. 

“I would like to refer to a statement made by the finance minister. Hopefully, he has not become the former minister by now. Or is he now the ex-minister?” asked Mahfuz. 

Zafrul had also denied resigning yesterday after his absence.

There were speculations that Zafrul had resigned after the government announced the fourth round of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals.

Back in January, Zafrul said that he would rather resign as the finance minister than compromise on a fourth “one-off” special EPF withdrawal scheme.

Zafrul and the EPF were against another round of withdrawals, saying it would compromise the future of contributors.

The minister also cautioned that the fund may be forced to sell its overseas assets if it was to facilitate more emergency withdrawals.

However, the government announced a change in stance on March 16, allowing contributors to withdraw another RM10,000 from their retirement savings. - Mkini