Cash Squeeze Looms for Malaysia’s Frenzied Amateur Stock Traders
- A six-month loan moratorium is due to lapse end-September
- Exchange preparing more steps to curb excessive speculation
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Forced to stay home when Malaysia deployed its army to ensure strict adherence to a virus-induced lockdown earlier this year, Victor Yap sat in his living room, listening carefully to a March 27 speech by the nation’s premier.
As Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin presented the details of the government’s stimulus package, one thing in particular caught the eye of the 35-year-old property valuer from Kuala Lumpur: a six-month moratorium on loan repayments. Realizing that the relief measure was set to leave him with spare cash given his two mortgages, Yap decided he’d put the funds into shares.