Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) slammed allegations that it has overpaid for a RM2 billion land acquisition from the Ministry of Finance (MoF), saying the benchmark used was inappropriate, reported The Sun Daily.
“The use of the Jakel land sale as the market benchmark is not an accurate comparison as the land purchased by Jakel is located over 3km away, whereas Lot 41 is contiguous to BNM’s existing land and has 453,851 sq ft of functional built-up space in existing buildings,” explained the central bank on its “Fact Watch” website.
In fact, the central bank has appointed Suleiman & Co as the land’s independent private sector valuer on 21 August 2017 to determine the property’s market price.
The land purchase came into the spotlight again after Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the ministry, under the previous government, used proceeds from the transaction to pay for the debts of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim, however, has repeatedly denied that the land acquisition was made due to political pressure. In fact, he described the deal as an arms-length transaction.
BNM also clarified that it does not need any conversion of title for the land to be used for institutional purposes given that it is classified as institutional under the 2020 KL City Plan. As such, no valuation adjustment is required.
BNM also revealed that Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who served as one of BNM’s board of directors, had recused himself from all meetings and deliberations on the land purchase due to conflict of interest in the matter.
Notably, the transaction was made via Hartanah Mampan Sdn Bhd, a special purpose vehicle of MoF in which Irwan Serigar also held a directorship.
Image sourced from Bank Negara Malaysia
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
For the latest property news, trends, resources and expert opinions, visit our Property News section. Home buyers, sellers or property renters looking for Malaysian Properties, may like to visit the New Launches or Project Reviews page.
