Azalina takes jab at Zafrul over procedural change in loan moratorium

Former de facto law minister Azalina Othman Said has taken a jab at Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz over the latest change in procedure for the six-month loan moratorium for hire purchase (HP) agreement and fixed-rate Islamic financing.

Taking to Twitter last night, Azalina (above) said: "This is (what happens) when the finance minister is not a people's representative but a representative of the bank?"

She was responding to an article by personal finance website Ringgitplus which reported that borrowers of HP and fixed-rate Islamic financing repayments need to sign additional documentation which opens the door for banks to charge additional interest.

Tengku Zafrul, who is the former CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chief executive officer, was roped in by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to become the finance minister on March 9.

On March 25, Muhyiddin announced a six-month moratorium on loan repayments and the restructuring of outstanding credit card balances involving about RM100 billion starting April 1.

On the same day, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) also announced "automatic" moratoria on all loan and financing repayments.

Last night, BNM said additional documentation would be required to defer HP and fixed-rate Islamic financing repayments.

BNM clarified that borrowers of these two types of loans will “not need to apply” for the deferment but will need to “complete the documentation required to give legal effect on the moratorium”.

Starting today, borrowers of both loans will receive a notification via SMS, email or registered mail from their banking institutions on the necessary steps that they need to take to complete the process of deferring their loan or financing payments under the moratorium.

Borrowers who do not wish to take up the moratorium can still choose to do so at this time by informing their banking institutions and resume their scheduled payments based on the terms of their existing agreements, it explained. - Mkini