Living within their means

THERE is a pressing need for youths to learn how to live within their means and practise moderation in every aspect of life.

In August, it was reported that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong revealed about 64,632 Malaysians aged between 18 to 44 years old have been declared bankrupt over the last five years.

According to Liew, the Government was concerned over the situation, which could be attributed to weak financial planning and insufficient knowledge to manage financial matters.

Statistics from the Insolvency Department have shown that the highest cases of bankruptcy among the youth were recorded in 2014 with a total of 13,098 cases, followed by 13,036 cases in 2013.

“In 2015, a total of 11,277 were declared bankrupt, increasing slightly to 11,875 in 2016,” said Liew.

The Government, he added, through the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), which is under Bank Negara Malaysia, will be carrying out its own initiatives involving financial literacy in a bid to reduce the number of bankrupty cases each year.

Data from the Insolvency Department showed a total of 13,338 registered bankruptcy cases recorded between January and September this year, a 2.6% drop from 13,694 cases reported over the same period last year.

The overall number of bankruptcies posted in 2017 was 18,227, with 41.36% or 7,539 comprised of those from the private sector and 4.77% or 869 from the public sector.

At the state level, Selangor documented the highest number of insolvencies at 4,458, followed by Johor Baru (2,086) and the Federal Territories (1,874).

Insolvency Department director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Putra Taha said that the four main causes behind the trend are car loans (26.63 percent), personal loans (25.48 percent), housing loans (16.87 percent) and business loans (10.24 per cent).