I Don T Know Of Any Rm5 Bil Injection Into Malaysia Airlines Says Tengku Zafrul

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Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz says the finance ministry is not involved in any bailout to help aviation companies, but it will help the industry recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.KUALA LUMPUR: The government will not get involved in any bailout of airline operators although they are badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as their business is run commercially, said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz“The finance ministry is not involved in any bailout to help aviation companies, but we will help the industry,” he said on the sidelines of his visit to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) headquarters here today
Tengku Zafrul said Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s board of directors had not heard of any news related to a capital injection of RM5 billion into Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB)
A Bloomberg report had stated that Khazanah was considering injecting fresh capital worth up to RM5 billion into MAB to see it through the Covid-19-induced slump in bookings
“This is the first time I’ve heard about the report (on capital injection). I don’t comment on speculation but, honestly, I never heard of that from the board or the Khazanah managing director that they will put money into Malaysia Airlines
“But if they do, it is up to the company. As far as I know, the finance ministry has not provided any allocation for Malaysia Airlines,” he said
Tengku Zafrul is one of the members of the sovereign wealth fund board
The aviation industry was “muted” following global border closures to curb the spread of Covid-19. This has impacted the airlines’ bottom line and downsizing operations were seen as one of the options to remain relevant in the business
It was reported that MAB had asked its 13,000 employees to take voluntary unpaid leave due to Covid-19, while AirAsia Bhd has laid off 111 flight attendants, 172 pilots and 50 engineers. - FMT

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