Dapatan RCI Tabung Haji cetus rasa déjà vu, kata Nurhisham

Nurhisham Hussein, the advisor to the Prime Minister's office, expressed a sense of déjà vu upon reading the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on the Tabung Haji (TH) funds. He noted that the issues raised in the report echo those of the Financial Guarantees (FGV) case. The problems surrounding the TH funds' acquisition at high prices without thorough research and insufficient scrutiny are reminiscent of the FGV situation, he stated during a discussion at the Himpunan Gerakan Islam Malaysia, attended by nearly 700 TH depositors.

Nurhisham emphasized that the TH assets were purchased without much thought for sufficiency, at soaring prices, and with inadequate due diligence. He likened the current scenario to the FGV case, where the government's failure to manage the debt burden led to annual debt repayment of nearly RM1 billion, according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in July.

Anwar previously revealed that Felda, a subsidiary of Felda, had faced severe management failures, resulting in almost RM10 billion in losses due to mismanagement and excessive political interference.

While some depositors have raised concerns about Malaysia's ability to bear the consequences of the upcoming RCI report on TH's financial mismanagement, Nurhisham assured that Malaysia is not like Argentina or Greece, the countries that experienced severe debt crises. He stressed that Malaysia has never been averse to repaying its financial obligations.

"Our government never hesitates to clear its financial obligations," he affirmed. When questioned about the original Sukuk issued by Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd, a zero-coupon instrument that does not offer annual returns to TH, Nurhisham explained that once the Sukuk matured, it was replaced with a new one offering annual interest components.

The RCI report identified excessive endowment commitments, questionable accounting practices, weak oversight, overly ambitious investment strategies, and increased subsidy burdens that put significant financial pressure on TH between 2014 and 2020.