PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has provided proof that he signed a debt waiver scheme for Felda settlers.
Media outlets were today provided with two documents – a government guarantee issued to Felda, and a RM990 million payment instruction from the government to the authority.
“I present a portion of the Assignment for Financial Service Reserve Account (FSRA) document related to the government’s guarantee to Felda that I have signed,” said Anwar in a statement.
“I urge Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to apologise for slandering me.”
Former prime minister Muhyiddin yesterday demanded an open and unconditional written apology from Anwar following his claim that the Felda settlers’ debts totalling RM8.3 billion had never been waived under Muhyiddin’s administration.
In the letter of demand dated July 18, Muhyiddin also wanted Anwar, within 24 hours of receiving the letter, to furnish signed documentation that Anwar, as the finance minister, had at the end of June signed a debt waiver scheme for the Felda settlers.
In a separate statement today, the finance ministry confirmed that Anwar had signed the FSRA assignment agreement on June 26.
“This agreement involves the government’s guarantee of RM9.9 billion to (Felda) for its debt restructuring exercise, through the issuance of sukuk and revolving credit as an effort to recover Felda’s financial standing.
“Under this agreement, the government will fund the repayment of the sukuk with a grant allocation of RM990 million per year for a duration of 10 years,” it said.
The ministry also confirmed that the first payment of RM990 million had been disbursed on July 18, in accordance with the allocations announced under Budget 2023.
Previously, Anwar had claimed that under the Perikatan Nasional government’s 2021 and 2022 national budgets, there had been no allocations to resolve and dispose of Felda’s debts.
He said it was only in this year’s Madani budget that he had set aside RM990 million as an early allocation to dispose of the Felda settlers’ debts of RM8.3 billion.
