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KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – Malaysian banks are committed to helping borrowers provide further assistance before the automatic blanket moratorium ends on September 30.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
Executive Director Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said the banks had identified and contacted some two million borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Movement Control Order, and were working hard to contact them before the end of the moratorium. .
“As of September 11, banks had spoken with 1.4 million borrowers of the two million borrowers contacted. More than 380,000 of them have confirmed that they require loan repayment assistance, while the rest are considering loan options financing available to them.
“About 98 percent of completed loan repayment assistance requests have been approved by banks,” he told reporters at a panel discussion with bankers in Sasana Kijang here today.
Abdul Rahman, who chaired the session, added that of the 380,000 who needed assistance, 26,000 were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and retail borrowers made up the rest.
The application process for an individual would take one to five days, and was expected to take three days to two weeks after banks received the full applications for SMEs, he said.
“All banks are committed to helping borrowers before and after the moratorium. We urge borrowers who need help to reach out to their banks for more help,” he added.
Abdul Rahman urged borrowers not to wait until the last minute to approach banks, as repayments not made after September would be considered past due payments.
“It will be reflected in your report from the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) and will be subject to the bank’s debt collection procedures.
“However, banks would continue to assist borrowers after September to avoid overdue payments and due process,” he said, adding that the banking industry would provide a specific moratorium extension starting in October.
Abdul Rahman said banks projected some 600,000 non-contactable borrowers, of the two million borrowers identified as vulnerable, will come forward later.
Anticipating the flood of borrowers who showed up at the last minute, banks had made several channels available to make it easier for them to find assistance through various online platforms and extended hours of operation, he said.
However, Abdul Rahman said that between 70 and 80 percent of the borrowers contacted had stated that they could continue with payments after September.
“We believe this reflects the strength of our economy, as well as the confidence of borrowers that they will be able to afford their loans.
“The strength of the economy was also supported by data from growing demand for car sales in June and July, which recorded more than 50,000 units in total industry volume,” he added.
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