Once bankruptcy protection is granted, any legal action against the bankrupt may not proceed. Their debts are also frozen and cannot accumulate.
However, monthly repayments determined by an Official Assignee, must still be made by the bankrupt individual.
The growing number of bankrupts in Singapore is due to a confluence of many factors, according to analysts.
Professor Lawrence Loh, director of the Centre for Governance & Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School, noted the world is just emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, so there is the “cumulative effect of the slowdown and many of the support measures ending”.
“At the same time, the bigger problem is actually on the global front, where there are some indications of slowdown, including even inflation that leads to interest rate rises, so all this collectively adds to the challenges,” he said.