Khazanah pumps in RM1bil into ValueCap

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has so far pumped in RM1bil into equity investment firm ValueCap Sdn Bhd to help shore up the market, its managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said.

“A billion has gone in (so far). They don’t need the whole amount in one shot. So they will progressively draw down on those commitment,” he said at the 12th Khazanah Annual Review in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

In September last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said RM20bil would be injected into ValueCap to boost the stock market.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar said the RM20biln fund injection into ValueCap would come from Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled at 1,642.54, up marginally by 1.17 points, from Tuesday’s close of 1,641.37.

On the 2016 Budget adjustments, he said Khazanah was well prepared to play a bigger role in stimulating the domestic economy as stated by the prime minister.

“We have done a lot of scenario planning during this time of volatility and uncertainty and we are well prepared for all scenarios,” he said.

He added that the company could do more in stimulating the local economy but such moves must be made with discipline so as not to jeopardise its portfolio.

The prime minister last week announced that adjustments to the 2016 Budget would be made to reflect the external challenges faced by the country’s economy including economic slowdown in China and declining oil prices.

Among the adjustments are a more prudent expenditure and greater role of government-linked companies (GLC) in the domestic economy.

Meanwhile, Azman said companies under Khazanah such as Malaysia Airlines and Tenaga Nasional Bhd had benefited from the declining commodities prices due to the nature of these companies’ business, which are heavy consumers of commodities.

On Malaysia Airlines’ restructuring process, Azman said the company had entered a period for it to showcase its operational capabilities.

“The first 15 months (since the restructuring announcement) is about resetting. The next 15 months, they (Malaysia Airlines) have to demonstrate operational capabilities,” he said, adding, the rebranding of the airline was not a priority.

Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the progress of the restructuring process and milestones that had been achieved.

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Azman said Khazanah was working closely with the Government to address some concerns including the preparedness of GLCs once the agreement kicks off.

However, he said the TPP provided Khazanah and other state-owned enterprises an additional two years to be prepared pending the enactment of state-owned enterprise legislative reform. - Bernama

See also Khazanah’s assets slightly higher at RM150.2b, warns of volatile year