PM Muhyiddin holds up oversubscribed sukuk as sign of investor confidence in Malaysia

(MMO) – Two Malaysian government sukuk issues that were oversubscribed by 6.4 times indicated that investors saw the country to be on the right economic track, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

Muhyiddin said demand for the federal government’s Sukuk Kelestarian — the first dollar-denominated shariah-compliant government securities in the world — was so high that Putrajaya was able to raise US$1.3 billion (RM5.34 billion) or 30 per cent above the initial target.

“This clearly reflects investor and market confidence in Malaysia’s economic recovery and growth prospects even when the government faced a strong challenge from the Covid-19 pandemic across the last year,” he said in a statement today.

“This also proves that Malaysia’s economic management is on the right track towards strong and sustainable growth.”

The prime minister went on to thank the Finance Ministry, Bank Negara Malaysia, and others involved in the sukuk issuance.

On Wednesday, the government announced that it successfully placed two dollar-denominated sukuk issuances, a 10-year bond for US$800 million and another 30-year issue for US$500 million

Moody’s Investor Services rated both issues as A3 while S&P Global Ratings categorised them as A- securities.

Yesterday, independent pollster Merdeka Center released new survey results in which 51 per cent of respondents indicated approval of the Muhyiddin administration’s stewardship of the economy.

In the same survey, however, 68 per cent of respondents said they felt the economy has deteriorated during the Covid-19 pandemic, while 19 per cent said they believed it has improved.

Malaysia’s economy contracted by 5.6 per cent in 2020, the worst recession the country has seen since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis.

Bank Negara Malaysia is projecting a strong rebound for 2021, projecting Malaysia’s gross domestic product to grow 6 and 7.5 per cent for the year.