KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 – Party President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is of the view that the moratorium on loan repayment without accrued interest is in line with the concept of the Malaysian Family.

This is because the philosophy is to focus on aspects that none of the people will be left behind in the country’s march to recover from economic destruction.

“Therefore, we still adhere to the words of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that the new government understands the situation faced by the people and will help solve the issue of accrued interest and loan repayment moratorium,” he said in a Facebook posting.

Meanwhile, he also questioned the statement by deputy finance minister in Parliament a few days ago regarding the exemption of accrued interest which is said to burden the bank.

The exemption alleged to cause banks facing difficulties in paying dividends to investors as well as public savings institution funds such as the Employees Provident Fund, Retirement Fund, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera and Tabung Haji, is also questionable.

“Banks may experience a slight difference in profit compared to what they forecast because they have to release the accrued interest but not to the point of recording losses or affecting the continuity of operations,” he said.

He who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman also reminded that the bank is still recording billions of ringgit in profits while many industry players or other sectors are suffering severe losses due to the pandemic.

“The granting of a moratorium on loan repayments is aimed at helping those affected recover from economic devastation, not to give financial institutions the opportunity to generate long term revenue,” he said.