Bank Rakyat assists laid-off borrowers

Bank Rakyat is prepared to extend the loan repayment period of borrowers who have been retrenched. The bank's objective is to ease borrowers' financial burden in these difficult times, but borrowers who have been laid off must make a written appeal, said Managing Director Datuk Kamarulzaman Che Mat.

Kamarulzaman explained that the bank's focus on domestic financing, involving more than one million civil servants who are expected to continue taking loans, increased the bank's profit margins.

Bank Rakyat chalked up US$92,704,103 in pre-tax profit in first three months of this year.

Kamarulzaman said that while the strategy prevented the sluggish economic climate from adversely affecting the bank's overall profit, he does not discount the probability of retrenched borrowers unable to service their loans to have an impact on the bank's profit.