MP SPEAKS | NRP meaningless without interest free loan moratorium

MP SPEAKS | Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s new appointment as the National Recovery Plan (NRP) coordinating minister will only be effective in pulling the economy out of the economic recession and alleviating the financial problems of Malaysian workers and businesses with reduced incomes if the bank loan moratorium is interest-free (except for the Top 20).

There is no point for the government to grant a six-month bank loan moratorium if borrowers still have to pay even higher accrued interest earned by banks.

This higher overall cost of borrowing for those opting in for the bank loan moratorium was highlighted by Bank Negara.

Bank Negara warned borrowers that whilst banks will not charge any compounding interest or penalty interest while the payment is being deferred, interest will still be accrued on the deferred payments.

In other words, interest would be charged on the loan principal during the...