Third person arrested in New Zealand for not paying back student loan

Approximately 90 per cent of the NZ $1.07bn (£588 million) that has been borrowed is owed by people living overseas

Six arrest warrants have been issued so far (Getty)

A third person has been arrested for not making student loan repayments in New Zealand.

The man, who has not been named, was arrested at the border of Australia and forced to start paying back his loan before he was allowed to leave.

He was reportedly travelling with his wife and family at the time of the arrest.

The arrest is part of a New Zealand's policty to crack down on borrowers moving abroad after taking student loans in the country.

Steven Joyce, the tertiary education minister, said 10,000 people in Australia had been identified and should expect “a knock on the door” if they did not start making student loan repayments, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Approximately 90 per cent of the NZ $1.07bn (£588 million) that has been borrowed is owed by people living overseas.

Legislation to make it a criminal offence for borrowers overseas to refuse to repay their loans came into force in 2014 and has so far resulted in six arrest warrants.

Ngatokotoru Puna, 40, was the first person to be arrested and was detained in January as he tried to leave New Zealand.

In a separate incident another woman, whose name has not been disclosed, was also arrested as she tried to board a flight to Australia.