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LTH last week announced a 5 per cent dividend and an additional 3 per cent bonus for depositors, shortly after a leaked BNM letter warned that the fund has more liabilities than assets. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 ― Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) insisted today that Lembaga Tabung Haji’s (LTH) reported cash flow problems are “real”, despite its recent dividend and bonus payout announcement.
At a press conference here, the party’s communications director Khalid Samad urged depositors not to be fooled by the announcement, saying the warning about the fund’s reserve levels from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) last year was “still relevant”.
“There is no malice here, but the problems with Tabung Haji are real. They still do not have a positive cash flow for the bonuses,” he told the press conference at Amanah’s headquarters here.
“They did so by reevaluating their assets on paper and selling off key assets,” he added.
LTH last week announced a 5 per cent dividend and an additional 3 per cent bonus for depositors, shortly after a leaked BNM letter warned that the fund has more liabilities than assets.
Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said that LTH's sale of a key asset in London for RM1.6 billion might have funded the dividends.
“But this is the asset that gave the best returns of 8 per cent per annum for Tabung Haji. Selling it was akin to killing the goose that laid the golden eggs,” he said.
As such, Salahuddin demanded that Tabung Haji be led by qualified people, and not “political appointments”.
Meanwhile, Salahuddin also asked the fund to state their actual plans for the plot of land it purchased at Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
“If they are going to build office space, there is already an office space glut in Kuala Lumpur. Until now, there are no concrete plans for that land,” he said.
LTH previously claimed that it would sell the TRX land it bought from 1MDB, but backtracked and said recently that it would go ahead with original plans to develop it.
