PUTRAJAYA: Generous Malaysians have contributed a whopping RM202,716,775.10 to the Tabung Harapan Malaysia (THM) since it was launched on May 30, 2018.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the THM was officially closed on Jan 14 after Cabinet agreed to extend the deadline for contributions from Jan 1.
“The two-week extension was decided on by Cabinet on Jan 2 based on the positive response from Malaysians,” the minister said in a statement, today.
Lim stressed that any contribution made after Jan 14 will not be credited to the fund’s account and that the money will be returned to contributors.
He said the ministry is now in the process of closing the THM account, which will be audited by the Auditor General’s Department.
Lim said that to ensure that the collection will be managed with transparency and integrity, an Account Committee chaired by Treasury secretary-general Datuk Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir was formed.
The committee will decide on usage of the fund in accordance with procedures listed in the THM Trust Deed, he added.
Lim also said that the government expresses its gratitude to all who had done their part in helping it pay off a portion of its inherited debt.
“Such gestures have encouraged the government to work harder in settling the debt which we have inherited,” he said.