KUALA LUMPUR: Some 64,632 Malaysians aged between 18 to 44 years old have been declared bankrupt over the last five years, the Parliament was told.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong said in a written reply that the highest cases of bankruptcy among the youth were recorded in 2014 with a total of 13,098 cases, followed by 13,036 cases in 2013, based on the statistics from the Insolvency Department.

"In 2015, a total of 11,277 were declared bankrupt, increasing slightly to 11,875 in 2016.

"However, we can see a decline from a total of 11,106 people declared bankrupt recorded in 2017 to 4,240 cases until April this year," he told Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Abdullah), who asked the government to reveal the latest bankruptcy statistics among Malaysians.

Liew said that the government was concerned over the situation, which could be attributed to weak financial planning and insufficient knowledge to manage financial matters.

"The government, via the Insolvency Department, is committed to carrying out awareness programmes regarding bankruptcy to the people and via its outreach programmes with other government ministries, agencies and bodies," he said.

The government, he added, through the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), which is under the Bank Negara Malaysia, will also carry out its own initiatives involving financial literacy in a bid to reduce the number of cases each year.