Stop talking about wiping out PTPTN debt, minister tells MPs

 

Borrowers owe PTPTN about RM70.48 billion as of Sept 30.

PETALING JAYA: Higher education minister Khaled Nordin has urged MPs to stop talking about wiping out the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) debts.

He said the government could not afford to wipe out the debt of 3.86 million borrowers, which amounted to about RM70.48 billion as of Sept 30.

“The financial implications of wiping out PTPTN debts is not merely a paper loss. The government will have to bear the costs of eliminating the debts,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat.

“As the amount of debt is huge, the government cannot afford to do it.”

As such, he said MPs should stop raising the issue, and that every time it was raised he would give the same answer.

Khaled said no party’s manifesto should be considered as the unity government’s obligation.

“The unity government is not Pakatan Harapan or Barisan Nasional,” he said.

Previously, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said recovering PTPTN loans remained a challenge. - FMT