BANKS have contacted about two million borrowers to offer targeted assistance in relation to the repayment of their loans as the Covid-19 pandemic moratorium expiry looms, deputy finance minister II Mohd Shahar Abdullah told the Dewan Negara today.

A total of 1.1 million people have given their feedback, whereby almost 300,000 have confirmed that they need help servicing their debt up to August 28, he said.  

The rest is still weighing on their options.

“The numbers are expected to see a drastic increase, whereby the borrower can easily apply through the various channels.”

He was responding to a question from Senator Razali Idris on the number of people from the target groups, including those unemployed because of Covid-19, who will be given an extension to their loan moratorium.

Shahar added that 97% of complete applications have been approved. 

It takes between one and five days to process an application from individual borrowers and between three days and two weeks for small and medium enterprises, he said.

“People don’t have to worry because the flexibility given to borrowers during this period will not reflect in the borrowers’ central credit reference information system (CCRIS) report.”

Applicants will have to inform the banks and provide the necessary information to qualify for the assistance.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on July 29 the government will extend the loan moratorium for individuals and SMEs on a targeted basis. – September 8, 2020.