Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani has urged Malaysians to change their mindset when it comes to purchasing properties when young and incurring a hefty long-term debt.

Speaking in Putrajaya today, Johari said in many countries, people are open to renting for a longer period of time, until they are financially prepared to purchase a house.

"It is our culture. We don't believe in renting for 20 to 30 years.

"We have to change our mindset. When you go to the UK or other countries, they just rent until they have the money to make a long-term commitment," Johari added.

As an alternative, he said, more affordable houses should also be built for rental purposes.

The minister was speaking at a joint dialogue session on the government's 30-year national transformation plan (TN50) with Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Johari noted that incurring lower debt liabilities at a younger age could encourage youths to seek better opportunities through change of careers or becoming entrepreneurs.

"The only way to resolve that part on housing is that we have to change our culture (to rent longer)," he said,

Similarly, Johari said, the government is also working towards reducing the dependency of youths in buying cars, before even securing their first job.

"Now, after you first graduate and go for interview, they will ask whether you have a car or not.

"That's the reason why the government today is investing in MRT1, MRT2, MRT3 and high-speed rail. So that our children, when they graduate, they will no longer need to buy cars," he said.

'Pay back student loans'

At the same time, Johari said a mindset change must also take place for repayment of student loans.

He noted that the government had allocated more than RM54 billion through the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) and it would be an "unsustainable" model to continue unless regular payments are made.

It was reported last week that 663,000 PTPTN borrowers had failed to pay back their loans, which amounted to RM4.7 billion as of Jan 31.