Increased foreign interest in Malaysian bonds

Foreign ownership rises

According to data issued by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) – the country’s central bank – foreign ownership of government and corporate bonds peaked over the summer, with July and August both setting records, first at RM240.9bn ($58.3bn), up by 2.4% month-on-month (m-o-m), and then rising to RM246.9bn ($58.5bn) in August.

In July foreign ownership of Malaysian government securities (MGS) stood at RM209.7bn ($50.7bn), a m-o-m increase of 13%. The July rise took the level of foreign holdings of MGS to a record high 51.9% of the total, up from 49.8% in June, Muhammad bin Ibrahim, governor of the BNM, said when announcing the economic indicators for the month. 

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