Do yourself a favour and cut that credit card in half: the number of Malaysian youths aged 25 and below who have declared bankruptcy is rising.
In the first six months of 2014 alone, 579 people in that age group have had to declare themselves bankrupt.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri told Bernama that most cases of bankruptcy among youths stemmed from the failure to repay vehicle loans, personal loans and credit card bills.
“The number, out of the total of 12,381 individuals declared bankrupt, was an increase from 208 individuals last year,” she said.
The 579 bankrupt youth were dwarfed in numbers by their elders, however: from January to June this year, 2,491 Malaysians aged 25 to 34 became bankrupt, while 4,121 people aged 35 to 44 also had to declare bakruptcy.
Nancy urged Malaysians, especially the youth, to seek advice from government initiatives like the Credit Councelling and Debt Management Agency to help manage their finances before they become untenable.
“Based on feedback obtained from organising several programmes previously, we found that the majority of youths are not aware of the services and assistance provided by the government resulting in them being bankrupt at a young age,” she said.
