It’s Najib’s fault borrowers now need to repay their loans, says PTPTN chief
Wan Saiful said he had spent months trying to find ways to accommodate the pledge, but said he did not have knowledge on the country’s debt status, which the government now said stood at over a trillion ringgit.
(FMT) – The chairman of the government’s higher studies loan fund has issued a public apology over Pakatan Harapan’s failure to fulfil its promise to ease borrowers’ debt burden by allowing repayment deferment for those with monthly incomes below RM4,000.
Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who chairs the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), said he was taking full responsibility as he was the one who made proposals concerning the study loan in the coalition’s manifesto for the May general election.
“I seek forgiveness from you, and promise to work hard, at the very least to implement the core principle not to burden youths with low income,” the former think tank head said in a frank speech to members of the Federation of Peninsular Malaysia Malay Students (GPMS) here.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, when tabling the 2019 Budget last week, announced that PTPTN borrowers earning at least RM1,000 a month would be subject to a progressive loan repayment schedule at the rate of between 2% and 15% of their monthly income.
This was in contrast to the pledge in the PH’s “Buku Harapan”, that borrowers earning less than RM4,000 a month could defer their loan repayments. Instead, the pledge now only applies to those aged 60 and above, where only 350 out of tens of thousands of borrowers will have their debts written off.
Wan Saiful said he had spent months trying to find ways to accommodate the pledge, but said he did not have knowledge on the country’s debt status, which the government now said stood at over a trillion ringgit.
He said PTPTN was saddled with some RM40 billion in debt from defaulters.
“Again, I seek your forgiveness, and your permission for us to move on after the unfortunate failure to implement our promise,” said Wan Saiful.
Wan Saiful in his speech today acknowledged that the promise on PTPTN was not the only pledge that PH had failed to fulfil, and urged government leaders to be humble enough to admit such failings.
“It’s time that the country’s top leaders as well as those from PH parties seriously decide on the promises that they can deliver immediately, those which have to be rescheduled, and most importantly, those which have to be cancelled,” he said, adding that this was because the coalition would have a clearer knowledge about “the catastrophe that we have inherited from Umno and Barisan Nasional”.
Wan Saiful said it was also important that government leaders not only exercise humility and admit to weaknesses, but also stop blaming the previous leaders.
“Humility is a trait of the Malays that we must have especially now that we are in power,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also been frank in saying that there would be promises that PH could never deliver.
“In the event we fail to fulfil our promises, I appeal to my colleagues in the government and in Pakatan Harapan to seek forgiveness from the people, in all humility, and not to be bogged down with promises that are no longer practical,” he said.
He said the government’s mid-term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan as well as the 2019 Budget could be a “more realistic” replacement of the PH manifesto.
“That will be a sign of humility in us and it is the only way the people will allow us to move forward,” he added.
