Agreement signed by Anwar enables Felda to restructure financial commitment, says agency

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) has clarified that the Assignment for Financial Service Reserve Account (FSRA) agreement is meant, among others, to enable the agency to restructure its financial commitment in relation to the interest rate charged and writing off 80% of the settlers’ bad debt amounting to RM8.3bil.

Felda, in a statement, said that the commitment to write off the settlers' debts was implemented by the agency without any grant from the Federal Government in 2021 and 2022, hence giving a huge impact on Felda’s cash flow and performance.

"As a measure to assist and ensure Felda’s survival, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had, on June 26, signed the FSRA for the first receipt of the RM990mil grant from the Federal Government for the redemption of Felda sukuk.

"The Prime Minister also announced during the Felda Settlers’ Day on July 7 that the government has approved an annual allocation of up to RM990mil for Felda for 10 years starting this year for the redemption of Felda sukuk and to enable the agency to write off 80% of its settlers’ debt.

"Overall, the entire initiative will involve financial assistance to Felda amounting to RM9.9bil over a 10-year period,” it said.

According to Felda, the Prime Minister’s statement had been misinterpreted to the extent of causing confusion among the public as it appeared to contradict the previous government's promise to write off the settlers' debts amounting to RM8.3bil.

Earlier today, Anwar in a brief statement, kept his promise to release part of the FSRA agreement document pertaining to the Government Guarantee for Felda, which he signed as the Finance Minister on June 26.

The three pages of the FSRA agreement showed that it was signed by Anwar on behalf of the Government of Malaysia and the then Felda chairman Tan Sri Idris Jusoh and Felda director-general Datuk Amiruddin Abdul Satar.

The signing of the document was witnessed by deputy secretary-general of Treasury (Investment) Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin.

In the same statement, Anwar also urged Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to apologise for the slanderous statements made against him over the debt waiver scheme for Felda settlers.

Muhyiddin, in a letter of demand dated July 18 issued through Messrs Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership, demanded an open and unconditional written apology from Anwar following the latter’s claim that the Felda settlers’ debts totalling RM8.3bil had never been waived under Muhyiddin’s administration. - Bernama