KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 88,620 individuals took loans through the GOpinjam initiative totalling RM91.1 million as of end-March.
According to the Finance Ministry (MoF), of that number, 55% are youth under the age of 30 with the average loan given amounting to RM1,500 per person.
The ministry was replying to a question from Rodiyah Sapiee (Batang Sadong-GPS) who asked about the number of borrowers and the average amount of approved financing applied for by the public, especially youth, in making personal loans directly with non-financial institutions such as Shopee, TNGeWallet (GOpinjam). and BigPay.
In a written reply to the oral question during the Dewan Rakyat session on June 13 posted on Parliament’s website yesterday, MoF said GOpinjam is a short-term personal loan developed by CIMB Bank Bhd in collaboration with its partner TNG Digital Sdn Bhd (TNGD).
Replying questions related to MoF’s monitoring so that these easy-to-pass personal loans do not ensnare borrowers with high debt burdens, the ministry said all financial institutions are required to comply with the requirements outlined by Bank Negara Malaysia to ensure fair treatment of consumers and protect consumers from excessive debt burdens and financial difficulties.
“It includes carrying out affordability assessments and adhering to prudent debt service ratios to ensure consumers are able to repay the financing throughout the financing period, including implementing adequate and effective controls to monitor and evaluate the performance of borrowers carefully to detect and resolve any issues that may cause problems to users immediately,” it said. – Bernama, June 17, 2023
