The Kelantan Mentri Besar Corporation (PMBK) subsidiary, which manages the currency, also clarified that the use of the dinar and dirham in the state was strictly voluntary.
“[The] federal government has not communicated with us. What we have heard is from the media,” said KGT chief executive officer, Umar Ibrahim Vadillo.
“Of course [the] Kelantan dinar is not legal tender. That is the exclusive right of the central bank,” said Umar, responding to statements which said the Kelantan administration had no authority to implement its own currency.
He told a press conference here that KGT has been taking steps to protect the integrity of the coins.
“Rest assured, we are taking all measures that would protect the legal integrity of the dinar and dirham within the laws of Malaysia,” said Umar.
“At the moment I cannot disclose such measures. I will time to time disclose them as the time is appropriate,” he added.
Soon after the launch last month, Bank Negara had said only it has the right to issue currency notes and coins.
“The most important issue here is freedom. For the first time in history, people are given a choice,” said Umar.
“This has nothing to do with politics. Tengku Razaleigh, an Umno member, strongly supports the dinar but there are PAS member who are still questioning,” he said referring to Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s support to the currency.
Umar said that response from the public has been encouraging and KGT has successfully sold dinar and dirham coins worth RM1.5 million since the launch, adding that the gold coins sold out after three weeks.
He also disclosed that KGT was also in talks with the Selangor and Kedah governments to encourage the two states to mint dinar and dirham coins.
“We visited the mentri besar of Selangor and he showed tremendous interest,” said Umar.
The KGT, said Umar, would also mint the gold and silver coins for Acheh government in Indonesia.
He added that the Selangor religious authorities have also expressed their support for the use of dinar and dirham to pay tithe.
Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat had said that the state would strive to expand the use of dinar and dirham coins in all transactions, including paying civil servants’ remuneration.
A dinar is currently worth RM592 while one dirham is equivalent to RM13. The values fluctuate according to the price of gold and silver.