Tabung Haji still awaiting Saudi decision on larger hajj quota

Lembaga Tabung Haji is still awaiting a decision from the Saudi Arabian government on the request for an additional 10,000 places in the hajj quota this year, CEO Zukri Samat said today.

Zukri said Tabung Haji had sent a formal letter to Riyadh on the matter, and that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa had also gone to the country to discuss it.

“We pray that we will get the 10,000 additional quota, because I understand that Tabung Haji has so far received up to 113,000 appeals. 

"But we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia,” he said at a briefing session on Tabung Haji issues at the Communications and Multimedia Ministry today.

The official quota given by Saudi Arabia to Malaysia this year is 30,200.

At the same time, Zukri (photo) said, a total of 91,000 new accounts were opened in the first quarter of this year, and RM4.3 billion of new deposits recorded.

“There was a blogger who misinterpreted these figures, and said on average new account holders deposited RM47,000 into their accounts. 

"This is wrong because the amount was deposited by both new and old Tabung Haji account holders," he clarified.

However, Zukri added that for the same period, RM4.6 billion savings were withdrawn.

He believes these were panic withdrawals by the account holders. resulting from the problems faced by Tabung Haji, as announced by the government at the end of last year.

“Nonetheless, we are confident that Tabung Haji's performance will be better starting the second quarter of this year," he said.

Tabung Haji recorded a net profit of RM440 million in the first quarter of 2019.

- Bernama