By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Oct 29: The government will offer discounts for the repayment of National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans, which will take effect from Nov 1 to April 31, 2022.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, in announcing this while tabling Budget 2022 in Parliament today, said that this is to ease repayment methods and encourage individuals to repay their loans.
“A 15 per cent discount will be offered on the balance of loans for those who wish to make a full settlement.
“A discount of 12 per cent will be given to those who settle at least 50 per cent of their loan balance in one payment.
“A 10 per cent discount will be given for repayment through scheduled salary deductions or debit,” he said.
In addition, Tengku Zafrul emphasised that for the first time, the budget will set aside a Teaching Material Special Incentive with a one-off RM100 payment for more than 400,000 teachers as token of appreciation for their contributions in preparing additional teaching materials for students throughout the home-based teaching and learning period due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“To ensure the continuous learning process especially for students under the B40 group, the government in collaboration with a selected telecommunication company will implement the Malaysian Family PerantiSiswa initiative where every B40 student in higher learning institutions will be supplied with an electronic tablet.
“For this purpose, the government has set aside RM450 million, apart from the commitment by the telecommunication company that will contribute about RM65 million.
“This will benefit about 600,000 students.”
Moreover, Tengku Zafrul added that the government also plans to extend the special individual income tax relief of up to RM2,500 for the purchase of mobile phones, computers and tablets until Dec 31, 2022. — DayakDaily
