Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that the government will not be involved in any bailout of airline operators, although they are severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as their business operates commercially.
"The Ministry of Finance (MoF) does not involve in any bailout to help aviation companies but we will help the industry," he said on the sidelines of his working visit to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) headquarters .
Tengku Zafrul said the Board of Directors of the Khazanah Nasional Bhd didn't receive any news about the capital injection to Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) of RM 5 billion.
According to a Bloomberg report, Khazanah serves to contribute up to RM5 billion (USD 1,2 billion) of fresh capital to MAB to ensure it is affected by the COVID-19-induced slump.
"This is the first time I heard about the report (capital injection)… I don't comment on speculation but honestly, I never heard of that from the board or Khazanah managing director that they will put money for 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.
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