KUCHING: Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (SHEDA) Kuching supported the suggestion to extend the maximum repayment period for housing loans from 25 years to 35 years.
Its Kuching branch chairman Datuk Sim Kiang Chiok said this would help to reduce the monthly mortgage repayment, hence, allowing the borrowers to have more disposable income.
“Thus, we hope the government will consider when tabling the Budget 2023 next Friday,” he said, adding that people could take personal loans with tenures of up to 25 years in the past.
However, in 2013, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) shortened it to 10 years, with the maximum term for housing loans also reduced from 35 years to 25 years.
Recently, Cuepacs president Adnan Mat urged the Finance Ministry and BNM to extend the maximum repayment period for personal loans from 10 years to 20 years amid a spike in bankruptcy cases.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune, Sim said the national budget must address the increasing rising cost of living such as maintaining petrol prices and utilities rates while ensuring economic stability and growth.
He said measures such as the housing credit guarantee scheme, low interest rate for small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) as well as stamp duty exemption for real estate transfer documents and loan agreements for houses worth from RM500,000 to RM1mil would help to boost the economy.
“It is hoped that there will be more cash assistance for the B40 families; those in the lower end of the middle-income wage bracket are now struggling with living costs,” he said.
As for the M40, Sim said, the government should consider the proposed two per cent reduction of income tax to ease the financial burden faced by many families and individuals in this category.
This was tabled (in October last year) by the previous government; it was proposed that for taxable incomes between RM50,000 and RM70,000 per annum, the tax rate would be lowered from 13 per cent to 11 per cent, while for taxable income within the RM70,000 to RM100,000 range, the rate would be reduced from 21 per cent to 19 per cent.
It was previously estimated that one million resident individual taxpayers would enjoy reduced taxes as part of the government’s efforts to increase disposable incomes.
