KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has defended Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s disposal of a number of its assets over the past year, saying it is a common practice involving investment funds.
The Economic Affairs Minister pointed out that since Khazanah does not receive any fund injections from external sources, disposal of its assets has become its main source of income to ensure new investments.
He added that the selling of assets by Khazanah also took place regularly under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, and not only under Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“Other investment arms in the country like Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) also do the same thing.
“But Khazanah is not like EPF and PNB as it does not receive any fund injections. EPF receives fund through employee’s contribution while PNB receives funds from investors into its trust unit,” he told the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
He also revealed that between 2009 and 2017, Khazanah has disposed a total of 84 assets under then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
Azmin said the disposal of Khazanah assets would also only be considered once the value of the invested property reaches maturity and is profitable.
He added that since taking over federal power in May 2018 until June this year, a total of RM18.8 billion in assets have been disposed by Khazanah, RM3.2 billion of which took place last year, with the remaining RM15.6 billion this year.
“The proceeds from the sale of these assets will be used for new investments and to clear Khazanah’s debts, and will not be used to pay off government’s debts,” he said.
Azmin was commenting on a question from Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin) on the total number of assets that have been disposed by Khazanah since PH took over, and the company’s financial situation currently.
Responding further, Azmin said since May 9 last year, Khazanah has managed to reduce its debt by about RM8 billion, from RM55 billion to RM47 billion.
He said this figure is expected to decrease to between RM35 billion and RM40 billion in the medium terms.
Azmin added that Khazanah is expected to record a profit of around RM5 billion for the 2019 financial year, compared with RM6.3 billion in losses it recorded the previous year. — Bernama
