KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — The Insolvency Department recorded 4,194 bankruptcy cases involving civil servants between 2020 and June this year, about 0.3 per cent of the nation’s 1.6 million public sector workforce.
Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying said the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) offers advisory services, financial management assistance and debt restructuring programmes for individuals facing serious financial difficulties.
“For new officers, the Public Service Department conducts the Mind Transformation Programme, which provides early exposure to personal financial management to ensure they can manage debt prudently.
“Civil servants are also bound by a rule requiring their net monthly salary to remain at least 40 per cent of their gross income, to prevent them from falling into serious debt,” she said.
She was responding to a question from Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (PN-Kuala Krai) on government measures to address the worrying trend of rising household debt, particularly among civil servants.
As of March, she said, Malaysia’s household debt stood at RM1.65 trillion, or 84.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
“However, it remains manageable at the macro level, as household financial assets over the same period amounted to RM3.45 trillion, 2.1 times higher than total debt,” she added.
On housing, which is the largest component of household debt at 61.1 percent, Lim said the government has introduced various affordable housing schemes, including Residensi Madani and PR1MA, taking into account specific situations such as in Johor Bahru, where the cost of living is high.
