Ministry Of Religion Criticizes BPKH's Intention To Invest Hajj Funds In Saudi Arabia: Counterproductive, We Are Looking For Investors

Illustrated. (Achmad Basarrudin / YOU)

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) Nizar Ali said that currently the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) is making investment efforts in Saudi Arabia for the managed Hajj funds. According to him, the business sectors targeted by the agency are hospitality, transportation, and catering.

However, Nizar said he was concerned about this intention. The reason is, BPKH is an official government institution that should be able to prioritize investment activities in the country and not in other countries.

"Why not think about investing in the country? Don't let it be counterproductive when the government invites foreign investors to invest in Indonesia, instead we use hajj funds to bet on foreign investments," he said in the Hajj Fund Management Webinar which was broadcast virtually, Monday, July 19.

In Nizar's notes, currently the investment made by BPKH tends to be conservative by targeting deposits and also state sharia securities or sukuk instruments. According to him, this is not much different from when the Ministry of Religion was still mandated by the government to manage Hajj funds several years ago.

To note, BPKH is the authority that has the authority to invest Hajj funds based on Law Number 34 of 2014 concerning Hajj Financial Management.

This institution has the main task of placing funds in certain investment instruments with a number of requirements, such as having to comply with sharia principles, be carried out carefully, safely and provide value for benefits for the congregation.

"Investment doesn't have to be in that sector and it doesn't have to be in Saudi Arabia either," he said.

Based on BPKH's 2020 financial report, it is stated that the institution has assets of Rp. 145.7 trillion. Meanwhile, the income from the placement and investment benefit sector during the past year was Rp. 7.3 trillion.

Meanwhile, BPKH's operating expenses taken from the return on investment amounted to Rp291.4 billion, with details on personnel expenditures of Rp98.1 billion and office operational expenditures of Rp193.2 billion.