Extend loan repayment freeze but only for low and middle-income groups, say economists
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July 17, 2020 12:00 PM
PETALING JAYA: Economists have agreed with the call for an extension of the six-month moratorium on bank loans but say this should only be allowed for targeted groups such as low and middle-income earners.
Carmelo Ferlito, a senior fellow at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, said these were the groups most affected by the economic slump from the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
“Low and middle-income earners who, in normal conditions, would have been able to honour their debts, find themselves in a situation of financial instability with the movement control order,” he told FMT.
“They are the ones we should help because they are the ones who would not have defaulted in normal conditions.”
Read more: Extend loan repayment freeze but only for low and middle-income groups, say economists
99 peratus kawasan terjejas bekalan air pulih sepenuhnya - Air Selangor
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Jumaat, 17 Julai 2020 | 8:49am
KUALA LUMPUR: Sebanyak 286 atau 99 peratus daripada jumlah kawasan yang terbabit dengan gangguan bekalan air berjadual sejak 14 Julai lepas, pulih sepenuhnya setakat jam 7 pagi tadi.
Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) dalam satu kenyataan memaklumkan daripada jumlah itu, empat kawasan di wilayah Klang/Shah Alam masih dalam proses pemulihan manakala wilayah Kuala Langat, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur dan Petaling, masing-masing pulih 100 peratus.
"Kawasan yang masih mengalami gangguan bekalan air adalah keseluruhan Taman Sentosa Klang, keseluruhan Taman Sri Andalas Klang, Jalan Raja Nong Klang dan Jalan Rajion Klang.
"Usaha menstabilkan sistem agihan bekalan air sedang giat dilaksanakan untuk mempercepatkan proses pemulihan bekalan air di kawasan yang masih terjejas," menurut kenyataan itu.
Read more: 99 peratus kawasan terjejas bekalan air pulih sepenuhnya - Air Selangor
MTUC calls for extension of moratorium for loans
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July 16, 2020 11:43 AM
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has urged Putrajaya to extend the six-month moratorium for loans for the B40 and M40 groups, saying they have been the most affected by the recent economic downturn.
“They need an additional six-month respite as clearly, the country needs at least that much time and well beyond to get the economy ticking again, while waiting to go full throttle once the Covid-19 vaccine makes it to our shores,” MTUC secretary-general J Solomon said in a statement.
He also urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin or Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz to state clearly whether or not the moratorium would be extended.
The moratorium, introduced on April 1, will end on Sept 30.
Najib: Extend moratorium for the sake of borrowers
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Friday, 17 Jul 2020
FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has urged Bank Negara and other banks in the country to reconsider the decision not to extend the moratorium on loans beyond September.
Expressing his concern that many borrowers and companies might go bankrupt trying to pay their monthly instalments after September, Najib said the main reason banks wanted these payments to continue was so that they had funds to provide fresh loans.
“But if demand for new loans has dipped, then there is no need for banks to force their customers to repay the principal payment, ” he said during his speech on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address.
Read more: Najib: Extend moratorium for the sake of borrowers
Bekalan air pulih 99 peratus
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Jumaat, 17 Julai 2020 @ 8:43 AM
SEBANYAK 286 atau 99 peratus daripada jumlah kawasan yang terbabit gangguan bekalan air berjadual sejak 14 Julai lalu, pulih sepenuhnya setakat 7 pagi tadi.
Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) dalam satu kenyataan memaklumkan daripada jumlah itu, empat kawasan di wilayah Klang/Shah Alam masih dalam proses pemulihan, manakala wilayah Kuala Langat, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur dan Petaling, masing-masing pulih 100 peratus.
"Kawasan yang masih mengalami gangguan bekalan air adalah keseluruhan Taman Sentosa Klang, keseluruhan Taman Sri Andalas Klang, Jalan Raja Nong Klang dan Jalan Rajion Klang.
"Usaha menstabilkan sistem agihan bekalan air sedang giat dilaksanakan untuk mempercepatkan proses pemulihan bekalan air di kawasan yang masih terjejas," menurut kenyataan itu.
Bukit Aman: Be careful of the ‘ghost’ behind the computer screen, scammers getting more creative in difficult times
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Friday, 17 Jul 2020 05:40 AM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — One of the biggest challenges faced by the Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) is people’s gullibility.
The department’s acting director Commissioner Datuk Saiful Azly Kamaruddin said despite all the warnings and stories in the media about people being cheated, people are still falling for various scams like “love scams”, “Macau scams” and “Pos Laju scams.”
With Malaysia reopening again after so many months of restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Saiful Azly warned that scammers have kept up with the times and become more creative as they too need to earn a “living”.
In an exclusive interview with Malay Mail on Tuesday, he said that the department saw a spike in cases in the first six months of the year compared to last year, from 12,462 to 14,050.
BNM, bank disaran kaji keputusan tidak lanjutkan moratorium
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16 Julai 2020
KUALA LUMPUR - Bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak menyarankan supaya Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) dan semua bank di negara ini mengkaji semula keputusan untuk tidak melanjutkan tempoh moratorium kepada peminjam.
Ahli Parlimen Pekan itu berkata, inilah masanya bank perlu berkorban supaya pelanggan mereka tidak terjejas dan masih mampu untuk mengembalikan keuntungan berbilion-bilion kepada mereka pada masa depan apabila krisis koronavirus (Covid-19) berakhir.
Katanya, beliau bimbang banyak syarikat dan peminjam bank tidak mampu membayar ansuran bulanan apabila moratorium tamat sehingga terpaksa diisytiharkan muflis.
"Jika bank tidak mampu melanjutkan lagi moratorium untuk bayaran ansuran bagi kedua-dua pokok dan faedah pinjaman, pertimbangkanlah untuk memberi tempoh di mana peminjam cuma perlu bayar ansuran bulanan bagi bahagian faedah sahaja dan tidak melibatkan jumlah prinsipal.
Read more: BNM, bank disaran kaji keputusan tidak lanjutkan moratorium
CAP tells consumers to take Sept 30 moratorium deadline seriously
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July 16, 2020 @ 12:42pm
GEORGE TOWN: The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has warned consumers against taking lightly the moratorium on loan repayment offered by banks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia, any appeal for extension after the current six-month moratorium ends will be closely scrutinised based on the restructuring of loans, on a case-by-case basis.
CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader urged consumers who really need to restructure their repayments to approach their respective banks soonest possible, to renegotiate their loans before the moratorium deadline on Sept 30.
"Consumers must not wait until the last minute to appeal. The reason is, immediately after the deadline, any non-payment of loan will be considered as a default in payment and it starts to accrue interest which can be exceedingly painful.
Read more: CAP tells consumers to take Sept 30 moratorium deadline seriously
KRI: Realistic poverty measures show more Malaysians poorer now
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Tuesday, 25 Jun 2019 07:05 AM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — The number of poor Malaysians is higher than official figures if the relative poverty line reflects today’s reality, Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) said.
The research house wrote in a June 11 note on its 2018 report on the state of Malaysian households that the number of relatively poor households rose to 1.54 million in 2016 from 1.08 million in 1995, after it raised the threshold to measure incidence of relative poverty to 60 per cent of the median household income.
Currently, the government defines relative poverty as families earning between the official poverty line income (PLI) and below the 50 per cent national median household earning, a baseline KRI said was still the lowest among other countries with similar median income level.
“Our own calculations using 60 per cent median show a slightly higher number (of relative poverty households) as we use a higher percentage and include also those below the PLI,” the note said.
Critics would likely cite the findings to reaffirm what they have long believed: That Malaysia’s impressively low number of poverty incidence masked a bleaker reality that belies its much-touted success.
Read more: KRI: Realistic poverty measures show more Malaysians poorer now
Potongan yuran melegakan ramai
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Rabu, 15 Julai 2020 | 5:22pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Pimpinan mahasiswa secara umum menyambut baik keputusan kerajaan mengurangkan kadar yuran asrama, perkhidmatan dan aktiviti mahasiswa universiti awam (UA) sehingga 15 peratus.
Rata-rata pemimpin pelajar di UA melihat langkah itu mampu mengurangkan sedikit beban ibu bapa, khususnya yang terjejas pendapatan atau kehilangan pekerjaan akibat pandemik COVID-19, selain golongan B40.
Bagaimanapun, ada pemimpin mahasiswa berharap Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi (KPT) dapat mempertimbangkan untuk menambah kadar pengurangan yuran itu kepada antara 20 hingga 25 peratus.
Presiden Kesatuan Pelajar Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (IIUMSU), Amir Nadzim Kaharudin, mengakui pengurangan itu langkah tepat dan meringankan beban ibu bapa walaupun kadarnya agak kecil.
"Yuran penginapan di UIAM adalah RM550, bermakna pengurangan 15 peratus adalah sekitar RM80 manakala yuran aktiviti dan perkhidmatan yang merujuk kepada penggunaan perpustakaan, makmal dan pengangkutan adalah RM200, dengan pengurangan kira-kira RM30.
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