KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 ― Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed that state-operated funds such as the Employees Provident Funds (EPF), Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB), Tabung Haji and the Armed Forces Fund (LTAT) will pay lower dividends this year.

In a Facebook post, he attributed this to the loss of investor confidence in Malaysia after GE14.

“I've observed that most of the unit trust prices managed by various private financial institutions and the government have dropped. Some at 5 per cent and others as much as 25 per cent compared with the start of this year,” said Najib.

He claimed that it was an indication that ASB, EPF, LTAT, and Tabung Haji would be paying lesser dividends this year.

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Najib said he was convinced that EPF’s dividends this year would be lower than the 6.9 per cent rate paid out last year which was the highest in the past 20 years.

In the same Facebook post, he posted a chart, which depicted the net inflow of foreign capital into Bursa Malaysia between January and April.

However, he said the trend reversed beginning of May.

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“In total, RM14.2 billion in foreign investment had been divested since May,” Najib said, adding that the FBM KLCI dropped as much as 200 points compared with pre-GE14.

Najib expressed concerns that government-linked companies (GLCs) like Khazanah Nasional Berhad, EPF, LTAT, PNB and Tabung Haji have suffered losses.

He said this was a grave concern because many of the largest shareholders of these GLCs were state investment funds.

He said the fall in Telekom Malaysia share prices caused Khazanah to lose RM3.9 billion, EPF (RM2.5 billion), and ASB (RM1.8 billion) compared with pre-GE14 prices.

“The price of fuel and the cost of living have not gone down, but now share prices and the people’s savings are being reduced instead?” he questioned.