KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 ― Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is scheduled to make an announcement on the moratorium extension and targeted approach assistance at 3pm today.

The announcement will be telecast on RTM, Bernama TV, TV3 and Astro Awani.

As at July 20, the deferred loan/financing repayments under the moratorium, which took effect on April 1 as part of the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) aimed at handling the impact of Covid-19,  are estimated to have reached RM59 billion, benefiting some 7.7 million Malaysians or 93 per cent of individual borrowers.

"The purpose of the moratorium, which is the third objective of Prihatin (to strengthen the economy), is to provide relief to the rakyat and businesses in need for a six-month period, and this six-month period will end in September 2020,”  he said.

On that note, banks have started to engage with borrowers for a more targeted approach.

Tengku Zafrul also said that the banks could see a reduction in their capacity to disburse new loans worth RM79 billion over the six-month moratorium period from April to September.

Over the moratorium period, total losses are expected to reach RM6.4 billion and for each month, the country’s banking system is estimated to incur losses of RM1.06 billion under the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) 9. ― Bernama