THE Dewan Rakyat has unanimously approved a bill to allow the government to use the RM16 billion National Trust Fund (KWAN) for the purposes of Covid-19 vaccine procurement. 

The approval is retrospective as the Perikatan Nasional government had already passed an emergency ordinance to allow itself to tap into the fund on April 21.

“Seeing that the EO is already expiring, the government wants to table a bill to allow the fund to be used for Covid-19 vaccine procurement and its related expenses,” said Finance Minister  Tengku Zafrul Aziz in the Dewan Rakyat today.

During the tabling of the amendment bill, Tengku Zafrul said that KWAN was set up 30 years ago with the future generations in mind.

“KWAN can be used for development or lending purposes. But we hope that it can be used for vaccine procurement,” said Tengku Zafrul, as he explained why the government wanted Parliament to approve the amendment. 

He said that other mineral-producing countries have similar trust funds and have also used their funds to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

As of September, the government has already used RM3.7 billion from KWAN for the purposes of vaccine procurement and management, he added.

KWAN, which is governed by the National Trust Fund Act 1988, is managed by Bank Negara Malaysia.

It was established in 1988 to conserve the nation’s wealth from petroleum and other natural resources for future generations, which includes contributions from Petronas.

According to the government, it has budgeted RM5 billion for Covid-19 vaccine procurement and related expenses. 

The government is also planning to fund booster shots for the population after fully vaccinating 90% of the adult population this month. – October 11, 2021.