Deferment of PTPTN loan repayment difficult to be implemented – Lim

SEMENYIH: The repayment deferment of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation ( PTPTN) loan as promised by the Pa kat an Ha rap an( PH) government is difficult to be implemented due to the country’s current fiscal position, according to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

While admitting that the government was badly criticised after the announcement on the matter was made during the tabling of Budget 2019 last Friday, he said the government really had no other choice.

“I accept the criticisms as we really want to implement it (the promise to allow deferment of PTPTN loan repayments), but it is hard to do it due to the current fiscal position.

“What can we (government) do right now? If Jho Low had not taken away RM50 billion, maybe we can do it,” he told reporters after the launch of FundMyHome. com, a digital platform which offers a similar scheme to the Crowdfunding Property solution, by Prime Minister Tun Dr Ma hath ir Mohamad here yesterday.

Prior to this, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik was reported as saying that the PH government would defer repayment of PTPTN loans for borrowers earning RM4,000 a month and below, in a bid to reduce the people’s burden.

However, when tabling Budget 2019 last Friday, Li ms aid repayment of loans would be ensured through scheduled deductions of between two and 15 per cent from the salary of debtors earning more than RM1,000. — Bernama