KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Department of Insolvency reported 4,194 bankruptcy cases among civil servants between 2020 and June 2025. This figure represents 0.3 percent of the country’s 1.6 million public sector workforce.
Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying highlighted the role of the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) in assisting those with financial struggles. The agency provides advisory services, financial management support, and debt restructuring programmes.
She added that new civil servants undergo the Mind Transformation Programme for early financial literacy training. The initiative aims to instil prudent debt management habits from the start of their careers.
Civil servants are also subject to a rule ensuring their net monthly salary remains at least 40 percent of gross income. This measure helps prevent severe debt accumulation among public sector workers.
Lim was responding to Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman’s query on government actions to tackle rising household debt, especially among civil servants.
As of March 2025, Malaysia’s household debt reached RM1.65 trillion, equivalent to 84.3 percent of GDP. Despite this, Lim noted that household financial assets stood at RM3.45 trillion, 2.1 times higher than total debt.
Housing remains the largest component of household debt, accounting for 61.1 percent. The government has introduced affordable housing schemes like Residensi Madani and PR1MA to ease financial burdens. These programmes consider regional cost-of-living differences, including high expenses in Johor Bahru. – Bernama
