KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — The government’s investment position amounted to RM35.15 billion at the end of 2022, a decrease of RM8.24 billion, or 19 per cent, compared with RM43.39 billion in 2021.
According to the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) released today, 68.7 per cent of the government’s investments were from the National Trust Fund (KWAN) and Miscellaneous Trust Fund, with a total of RM24.15 billion, while RM11 billion or 31.3 per cent was investments from the Consolidated Revenue Account surplus.
In 2022, the Federal revenue amounted to RM294.36 billion, while operating expenditure before transfer to the Development Fund amounted to RM292.69 billion.
The Consolidated Revenue Account recorded a RM1.66 billion surplus, a decrease of RM572 million or 25.6 per cent, compared with RM2.236 billion in 2021.
According to the report, the entire surplus amount has been transferred to the Development Fund, and the remaining balance in the Consolidated Revenue Account is RM11.863 billion.
At the end of 2022, the KWAN investment position amounted to RM14.47 billion, representing 41.2 per cent of the total government investment and an increase of RM583 million or 4.2 per cent compared with RM13.89 billion in 2021.
“The increase in the investment balance is attributed to the receipt of funds from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) amounting to RM500 million as well as the reinvestment of interest and dividends,” it said.
At the end of 2022, the position of investments in the Miscellaneous Trust Fund amounted to RM9.675 billion, which is 27.5 per cent of the total government investment, a decrease of RM12.8 billion or 57 per cent compared with RM22.475 billion in 2021.
“Most of the Miscellaneous Trust Fund’s investments are in Short-Term Domestic Deposits Over Three to Twelve Months, amounting to RM9.54 billion, and Long-Term Domestic Deposits Over Twelve Months, amounting to RM140 million.
“These investments are managed by the Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia,” it said.
Meanwhile, the government’s investment book value amounted to RM34.03 billion, an increase of RM168 million, or 0.5 per cent, compared with RM33.86 billion in 2021.
In 2022, the government’s stakeholdings in Digital Nasional Bhd increased to 500 million ordinary shares with a par value of RM1 per unit.
At the same time, the government’s ownership of 131 million Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares in Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd has been redeemed.
The government also has stakeholdings in three companies that are still in the winding-up process, namely 300,001 ordinary shares in Malaysia Batek and Handicraft Bhd, one preferred share in Malaysian Airline System Bhd, and one preferred share in Medical Online Sdn Bhd.
In 2022, investment dividends received from 16 companies and two statutory bodies amounted to RM55.815 billion, an increase of RM23.60 billion, or 73.3 per cent, compared with RM32.21 billion in 2021.
“The significant increase includes dividends received from Petronas amounting to RM50 billion compared with RM25 billion in 2021.
“Additionally, the government also received dividends from UDA Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd and Malaysian Kuwaiti Investment Sdn Bhd, totalling RM40.92 million,” according to LKAN.
The substantial reduction in dividends is from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Pembinaan BLT Sdn Bhd, which decreased by RM2.5 billion and RM14 million, respectively, compared with RM3.026 billion in 2021.
“No dividends were received from Perbadanan Nasional Bhd, MyCreative Venture Sdn Bhd, and JKP Sdn Bhd in 2022 compared with RM5.24 million in dividends in 2021,” it added.
— Bernama
