Fitch Assessment Reflects M'sia's Robust Economic Fundamentals: FMM

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Fitch Ratings' assessment on Malaysia reflects the country's robust economic fundamentals, says Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) President Saw Choo Boon. The rating agency had Tuesday affirmed Malaysia's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings (IDRs) at 'A-' and 'A', respectively, with stable outlooks. The ratings were driven, among others, by the authorities' commitment to a fiscal consolidation path, a stable ringgit, reserves and stronger economic growth. In fact, momentum for the ringgit has been positive, lingering at the 4.1-level against the US dollar as compared to 4.4 in September last year. "The action taken by the government would help the country face the challenges ahead," he told reporters after sharing the FMM-MIER "Business Conditions Survey" here Wednesday. Saw also described the government's review of the 2016 Budget as an excellent move. "It's right to review the Budget and take measures to address some of the challenges ahead, for example, if oil prices drop, what will happen? "They have taken measures to address that and are still able to maintain financial parameters such as the 3.1 per cent budget deficit. "That has gven confidence to the business community, and hopefully as we go ahead and things get better, Fitch can improve the rating to A+," he added. The authorities adopted a budget recalibration last month that cut 0.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from spending to match a decline in oil revenues and other smaller revenue adjustments. -- BERNAMA