KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will receive a RM3.7 billion loan to fund students, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said while tabling Budget 2016, after the Bumiputera agency asked for a RM1 billion loan.

Najib said the loan would be used to fund 72,000 Bumiputera students for higher education.

“For MARA, a loan of RM3.7 billion will be granted to fund 72, 000 Bumiputera students at the higher education level,” the prime minister said at Parliament.

Other Bumiputera agencies such as Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) and Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera were granted RM150 million each to fund their respective programmes.

Recently, MARA chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa asked for a RM1 billion loan to finance their students in Jordan and Egypt due to the declining ringgit and an increase in university fees.

According to Malay daily Berita Harian, Annuar said that MARA was facing a RM500 million deficit due to the weaker ringgit and an additional RM280 million in university fees.