Nurhisham sees déjà vu in Tabung Haji RCI findings

 The economic adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office says the issues plaguing the pilgrims’ fund were similar to those faced by FGV Holdings Bhd, a unit of Felda.

Nurhisham Hussein, economic adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office, said TH assets were bought without sufficient security at inflated prices and without proper due diligence.

KAJANG:

Economic adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office Nurhisham Hussein says the issues surrounding Tabung Haji (TH) and FGV Holdings Bhd appeared to follow a similar pattern, with the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) report on the pilgrims’ fund giving him a sense of déjà vu.

“When I read the RCI report, I had a bit of a sense of déjà vu. It was almost the same with FGV.

“The issues were the same,” he said during a dialogue organised by Himpunan Gerakan Islam Malaysia here today, attended by almost 700 TH depositors.

Nurhisham said assets for the pilgrims’ fund were bought without sufficient security, at inflated prices and without proper due diligence.

“All of this seems to show a similar pattern (to what happened with FGV Holdings),” he added.

FGV Holdings is a subsidiary of Felda, whose past administrative failures forced the federal government to shoulder nearly RM1 billion in debt repayments annually, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in July.

Anwar had also said Felda was facing losses of nearly RM10 billion because of mismanagement and excessive political interference.

Some depositors had raised concerns about whether the government would be able to shoulder the burden after the RCI uncovered financial mismanagement at TH.

Nurhisham, however, said Malaysia was “not Argentina or Greece”, referring to the debt crises faced by the two countries.

“The Malaysian government has never failed to honour its financial obligations. We have always paid,” he said.

He was also asked about the original sukuk issued by Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd being a zero-coupon sukuk, meaning it did not provide TH with annual returns.

However, Nurhisham said after the sukuk matured, it was replaced with a new sukuk that provides an annual profit component.

The RCI’s report concluded that a combination of excessive hibah commitments, questionable accounting practices, weak oversight, ambitious investment strategies and rising subsidy obligations placed significant financial pressure on TH between 2014 and 2020. - FMT