This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 14, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN) is reviewing the implementation of the proposed deferment of study loan repayments for borrowers earning less than RM4,000 a month in view of incomplete information on borrowers’ incomes.

The ministry of education said that the data collection is being carried out through PTPTN to identify the borrowers’ income information via PTPTN’s website in collaboration with other agencies such as the Accountant General’s Department, Employees Provident Fund, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), Inland Revenue Board and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera.

“The findings will be presented to the cabinet upon completion. Although the implementation of the policy is still in the review stage, the borrower is encouraged to continue to make study loan repayments consistently to avoid earning a bad record in the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS),” the ministry said in a written reply to Ipoh Timur member of parliament Wong Kah Woh.

As of June, a total of 429,945 PTPTN borrowers had been removed from the Immigration Department’s blacklist.

In the last general election, Pakatan Harapan promised to remove the names of PTPTN borrowers from the Immigration Department’s blacklist, as well as to defer the study loan payment for borrowers earning less than RM4,000 a month.

The ministry’s answer was in response to Wong’s question on the number of PTPTN borrowers who earn RM4,000 per month compared to the total number of borrowers as a whole and whether the names of these borrowers would be removed from CCRIS.