Govt could have faced RM74.5b liability from Tabung Haji bank run in 2018, says Zulkifli

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — According to Dr Zulkifli Hasan, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), the government could have been responsible for up to RM74.5 billion in liabilities if a massive panic withdrawal, or "bank run," had taken place in 2018. This figure was derived from a situation where a panic withdrawal did indeed occur in 2019, amounting to a net withdrawal of RM6 billion shortly after the announcement of a 1.25 per cent hibah for the previous year in early 2019.

During a ministerial briefing on the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report concerning Tabung Haji (TH), as well as the initiatives and measures undertaken to revive the institution's financial health, Hasan emphasized the potential consequences of a hibah declaration. He pondered aloud, "Imagine if no hibah had been declared.

How much panic withdrawal could have occurred?" He further explained that technically, TH was insolvent at the time and necessitated intervention. Consequently, the Pakatan Harapan government stepped in with a restructuring plan designed to rectify TH’s financial standing, enabling the institution to return to solvency and maintain its financial sustainability in the long term.