KUALA LUMPUR: More than a quarter of Malaysians declared bankrupt in the last five years are aged 25 to 34, it was revealed today.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong (pix) said that from January 2015 to August this year, only 476 of those who were declared bankrupt were aged below 25, accounting for just 0.6% of the total.
On the other hand, 20,461 of the bankrupts were aged 25 to 34, making up 25.3% of the total.
The data from the Malaysian Insolvency Department also showed that those aged 35 to 44 accounted for 28,296 or 35% of all bankrupts, the highest among all age groups.
“It cannot be denied that the youth today are influenced by current trends, which are causing them to spend beyond their means,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat.
Liew added that currently there are 300,908 bankrupt Malaysians, down from 303,415 last year.
He was responding to Willie Mongin (PH-Puncak Borneo) who wanted to know the number of Malaysian who have been declared bankrupt since 2015, according to their age group and gender, and what the government was doing to help these individuals.
According to Liew, the government was implementing several measures to reduce the number cases in the country, including creating awareness and providing information on the risk and effects of being declared bankrupt.
“The government has also conducted outreach programmes, which are carried out by the Insolvency Department, especially for the youths.
“In addition, the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) is also conducting programmes on how to manage your finances, involving all group age,” he said.
