Understanding the impact of macroeconomic factors towards household debt in Malaysia / Helisa Julius Lius

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence household debt in
Malaysia via time series data. This study will employ the time series, Diagnostic Test
and Ordinary Least Test method and the macroeconomic variables used consists of
house price index, interest rate, gross domestic product, unemployment rate and
consumer price index as independent variable taken from first quarter 2011 to fourth
quarter 2018. The result revealed that house pricing index show positive relationship
with household debt, which indicates that the rise of household debt is determined by
the rise of house price index. However, interest rate, gross domestic product,
unemployment and consumer price index are found to have negative effects on the
rise of household debt. The data are taken from Bank Negara Malaysia report,
National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) and Department of Statistics Malaysia
(DoSM). This study could provide some guidance to the academicians and policy
makers in controlling the mounting debt level and may help in realizing the nation
economic nowadays.