PUTRAJAYA: The total collection of Tabung Harapan Malaysia (THM) which stood at RM205,491,219 has been fully utilised to pay off 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) debts.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the ministry had previously informed that the funds monies as of Jan 14, the deadline for accepting donations, stood at RM202,716,775.
He said another RM2,774,444 in the form of interest was earned from the trust account where the donation was deposited, to bring the total monies in the fund at RM205,491,219.
“On Nov 28, 2019, the government used RM61,680,261.87 from the THM fund for the amortization of 1MDB sukuk Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTN).
“The payment of RM61.68 million funded through the THM is only part of the total IMTN interest payment amounting to RM143.75 million. The remaining RM82.07 million was funded through the 1MDB asset recovery fund amounting to about RM1.45 billion so far,” he said in a statement today.
Lim said the government was committed towards paying off all loan obligations inherited from the previous administration.
He said the next payment to be made by 1MDB would be USD66 million (RM275.6 million) on the 1MDB Global Investments Limited (GIL) bond interest which is payable on March 9, 2020.
“In total, RM13.9 billion had to be spent by the Government to finance the 1MDB and SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC) debts from 2017 to 2020.
“1MDB's debt is currently RM50.5 billion, including interest that will only be fully repaid in 2039.
"The government would also like to thank all Malaysians who contributed to the fund," he said.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had announced the setup of the Tabung Harapan Malaysia on May 30, 2018 to provide Malaysians with a platform for them to play their part in helping to ease the government’s burden in dealing with the RM1 trillion national debt.