Three-month loan moratorium extension for those who lost jobs: Muhyiddin

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today announced the extension of loan repayment moratorium by three months for those who have lost their jobs in 2020 due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and have yet to secure employment, while a targeted approach will be undertaken for the rest.

After three months, the moratorium period could be extended by the respective banks according to each individual's situation, Muhyiddin said.

"This decision was made after discussing with the Finance Ministry and the Bank Negara Malaysia governor," he said in the announcement telecast on RTM, Bernama TV, TV3 and Astro Awani.

The country's unemployment rate hit 5.3 per cent in May, affecting 826,100 people.

The government's Wage Subsidy Programme has helped to safeguard 2.4 million jobs.

As of June 19, RM4.89 billion had been approved for 303,596 employers for the benefit of over 2.4 million workers.

The government also announced a six-month moratorium period from April 1 to Sept 30, 2020, under its third PRIHATIN Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package to cushion the pandemic impact.

He said as of July 20, the deferred loan/financing repayments under the moratorium were estimated to have reached RM59 billion, benefiting some 7.7 million Malaysians or 93 per cent of individual borrowers.

-- BERNAMA