Malaysia

[UPDATED] Haj to cost between RM1,000 and RM3,000 more: TH

Revision due to Saudi Arabia’s increased VAT, visa, Covid-19 insurance charges, says Lembaga Tabung Haji

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 22 Apr 2022 4:11PM

[UPDATED] Haj to cost between RM1,000 and RM3,000 more: TH — Lembaga Tabung Haji CEO Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin says under the new rate, individuals categorised under B40 performing their haj must pay RM10,980, RM1,000 more than before, and others not included in the bracket are subject to a payment of RM12,980. – Bernama pic, April 22, 2022

by Amar Shah Mohsen

KUALA LUMPUR – Beginning this year, Malaysians who will be performing their haj will have to fork out between RM1,000 and RM3,000 more than the previous rate of RM9,980, Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) announced today.

Chief executive officer Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin said the revision is unavoidable following the increase in haj cost from RM22,900 in 2019 to RM25,540 presently.

This is contributed by inflation, Saudi Arabia’s revised value added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15%, haj visa charges, and Covid-19 protection insurance imposed by the kingdom state, he said.

Under the new rate, individuals categorised under B40 will have to pay RM10,980, RM1,000 more than before, where else others not included in the bracket are subject to a payment of RM12,980.

Amrin said the remaining amount will continue to be subsidised by TH, although this is only applicable to first time haj pilgrims.

For B40 individuals, the amount subsidised is RM14,560 (or 57% of the overall cost), while the subsidy for non-B40 individuals is RM12,560 (49%).

TH has been subsidising part of the cost to perform haj since 2001.

“Based on the haj quota of 14,306 pilgrims for this year imposed by Saudi Arabia, TH is expected to spend approximately RM150 million to cover part of the cost of haj,” Amrin told a special press conference, here, today.

This is the first revision to the rate of payment for pilgrims since 2009. Pilgrimage costs have gone up 103% between 2009 and 2022, according to TH.

“TH will continue to provide haj financial assistance and absorb the increase in cost for Malaysian pilgrims, particularly for the B40 group, who are certainly more impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Idris Ahmad announced that Malaysia’s haj quota this year has been cut by more than half from 31,600 in 2019 to 14,306.

This comes as Saudi Arabia welcomes international pilgrims for the first time in two years following the Covid-19 outbreak, but capping the number of pilgrims to 1 million. – The Vibes, April 22, 2022