National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan has apologised for failing to deliver on Pakatan Harapan's promise to defer repayments from borrowers earning less than RM4,000 a month.

Wan Saiful said they were unable to do so because of the country's debt situation, and because funds are needed to provide loans to new students.

"I want to apologise to all of you and the people. Many asked for Harapan to postpone PTPTN payments for those earning less than RM4,000.

"I have spent months thinking of how to implement this. My mandate was to figure out how to implement this promise, but it can't be.

"Today I apologise because I can't fulfil this promise, because I wrote it in the Harapan manifesto," he said when officiating at the Federal Territory Peninsular Malay Students Coalition AGM in Kuala Lumpur today.

Read more: Wan Saiful proposes two replacements for Harapan manifesto

The PTPTN deferment promise was the sixth of the 10 promises Harapan pledged to fulfil in its first 100 days in office, a timeline that ended on Aug 17.

Despite failing to live up to that promise, Wan Saiful praised PTPTN's management for working tirelessly to run the fund.

Under Budget 2019, the government introduced a measure for borrowers earning more than RM1,000 to repay their loan through monthly salary deductions.

The government is also offering tax breaks to companies that help settle their employees' PTPTN loans by the end of 2019.