Our household debt stands at RM1tril, says Chua

THE household debt of Malaysians stands at RM1,030bil or 89.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong said 62.6% of household debt in Malaysia was for long-term loans from banks and non-banking financial institutions for property acquisition and financial investments.

“Several measures have been implemented by the Government in stages since 2010 to curb the rise in household debt.

“This has led to a decrease in household debt growth by 6.5% this year from 7.3% last year and 14.2% in 2014,” Chua told Datuk Nasrun Datu Mansur (BN-Silam).

Nasrun also asked what was being done to prevent those between 25 and 30 years old from being declared bankrupt due to credit card debt problems.

Chua said credit card debt was not among the main reasons for bankruptcies.

“The biggest cause of bankruptcies is personal loans.

“Of the 18,457 individuals made bankrupt last year, 1,770 cases were due to credit card debt,” added Chua.

To another question, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said an intensive two-year study was underway to determine what was needed for the nation to face an aged population in 2035.

“Based on United Nations’ definition, a nation has an aged population if 15% of its total population are senior citizens.

“At present, only 9% or 2.8 million out of 31 million Malaysian are senior citizens and the Statistic Department says we will reach 15% or 5.6 million by 2035,” she said to a question by Tan Kok Wai (DAP-Cheras).