KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 253,457 bankruptcy discharge cases were recorded between 2023 and September this year, as the government plans to raise the bankruptcy threshold from RM100,000 to RM150,000, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said the proposed increase is aimed at reducing bankruptcy risks while giving debtors more room to restructure their finances.
“The move is intended to reduce bankruptcy risks and provide debtors with an opportunity to reorganise their finances.
“The government is strengthening its recovery efforts through the second-chance policy,” Azalina said during her winding-up speech on Budget 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
The proposed increase in the bankruptcy threshold was announced during the tabling of Budget 2027 on Oct 9.
Azalina said the government would continue its efforts under the Fast Track Discharge Programme 2026, which prioritises certain groups, including single parents, scam victims, buyers of abandoned housing projects as well as micro, small and medium enterprise borrowers.
Applications for bankruptcy discharge can now be submitted online through the Insolvency Department’s e-Insolvensi portal, she added.
“For eligible applicants, the fast-track process can be completed within 36 days, subject to the relevant conditions and no objections from creditors.”
Azalina also said that the government, through the Insolvency Department, is aiming to further shorten the discharge process next year.
On a separate matter, Azalina said a parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) examining the proposed separation of the Attorney General (AG) and Public Prosecutor (PP) roles would meet again next week.
She said the AG’s Chambers had been given two weeks to provide its legal response on the proposed reform.
“Once we receive its legal response next week, I will convene another PSSC meeting.”
Azalina said separating the two roles is necessary to address perceptions of interference in prosecution decisions, when asked by Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) whether it was appropriate for an MP to request the Prime Minister to direct the AG to prosecute certain individuals, arguing that such actions are inconsistent with the rule of law.
She also outlined a proposed appointment mechanism under which candidates for the PP position would be debated in Parliament before their names were submitted for consideration and eventual presentation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
She stressed that the country’s system of checks and balances depended on the separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary, adding that the courts remained an avenue for seeking justice.
