Salary cut last measure for civil servants to repay PTPTN loan - Ali Hamsa

Mandatory salary deductions for civil servants who failed to repay their National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan may be imposed as a last resort, said Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Ali Hamsa.

He said he would meet the secretaries-general of all the ministries tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the problem involving about 33,000 civil servants and the best way to resolve it.

"We will meet to see what their (borrowers') problems are and why they are reluctant to settle the PTPTN loans.

"If we cannot find the solution, only then will we impose the pay deductions," he said when asked to comment on a newspaper report that more than 33,000 civil servants, including senior officials, had not repaid their loans.

The Berita Harian report said the figure represented 12 percent of the total of more than 280,000 government servants who had taken PTPTN loans.