KUALA LUMPUR (July 22): The Cabinet will discuss a proposal to make public the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Lembaga Tabung Haji before making a decision, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Dr Zulkifli Hasan.

He said the matter arose following confusion and allegations that Tabung Haji’s strategic assets had been sold by the former Treasury secretary general.

“I want to stress that the allegation that the former Treasury secretary general sold Tabung Haji’s strategic assets is untrue and false. What actually happened was a bailout operation to save a financial institution serving Muslims, which had been affected by the reckless misappropriation of depositors’ funds before 2018,” he said.

Zulkifli was replying to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Seri Prof Dr Noor Inayah Ya'akub on the allegation that the former Treasury secretary general had sold Tabung Haji’s strategic assets in the Dewan Negara on Wednesday.

He said the sale of Tabung Haji assets that were underperforming and problematic to the government-owned special purpose vehicle Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd was a collective decision by the Cabinet in 2018.

Zulkifli said the auditor general and Bank Negara Malaysia had revealed Tabung Haji’s serious financial problems when the institution’s asset-liability deficit reached RM10.9 billion that year.

At the time, he said about RM6 billion was also withdrawn by depositors within a short period following a crisis of confidence, while efforts to obtain a standby loan failed.

He also said the government was at risk of assuming liabilities of about RM74.5 billion if Tabung Haji collapsed as deposits in the institution were fully guaranteed by the government.

Therefore, he said the decision to rescue Tabung Haji had proven successful, with the institution’s deposits increasing from about RM69.4 billion in 2019 to more than RM95.1 billion as of the middle of this year.

The profit distribution rate also increased from 1.25% in 2018 to 3.5% for 2025, the highest in eight years, while the cost of performing the haj has remained unchanged for three consecutive years from 2024 to 2026 despite inflation.

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