Some 80,000 borrowers are set to benefit from the National Higher Education Fund Corporation’s (PTPTN) new “overlapping” facility.
Existing borrowers who apply for a second PTPTN loan won’t be listed in Bank Negara’s Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS), nor will they be banned from travelling overseas.
The “overlapping” facility, which benefited 32,213 borrowers, was introduced on April 6 last year, said PTPTN chairman Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah.
“For example, a student who owes RM15,000 for his diploma, now applies for RM21,000 for his degree.
“So, the new total owed is RM36,000. This lump sum will only be due six months after he graduates with a degree.
“His name will not be listed in CCRIS and he won’t be blacklisted by the Immigration Department,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
From Aug 15 this year, some 45,866 borrowers who applied for a second loan before the “overlapping” facility was introduced will also benefit from the policy.
He said this was part of PTPTN’s efforts to help borrowers who wanted to continue studying but were unable to settle their first loan.
He, however, said a total of 545 borrowers had yet to benefit from the “overlapping” facility.
This was because they were still under the conventional financing scheme.
These borrowers must convert their scheme to the syariah-based ujrah scheme to enjoy the new facility. They can do so by calling Careline PTPTN (03-2193 3000).
Dr Shamsul said PTPTN had collected half of the amount targeted for 2017.
“We’ve collected RM2bil and are confident of meeting our RM4bil target for the year.”