Malaysia's Debt Securities Mart One Of Largest In Region

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's debt securities market, which stood at 101.6 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015, remains one of the largest in South-East Asia, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM or Malaysia's Central Bank). "Borrowers and investors continued to demonstrate confidence in the resilience of the market, with multi-currency issuances further adding to its depth," it said in its Financial Stability and Payments Systems Report 2015 released here Wednesday. BNM said it has reviewed the Repurchase Agreement (repo) Transactions Policy Document to allow financial institutions to utilise eligible foreign currency securities as collaterals to obtain foreign currency funding under repo transactions. "This is expected to increase the volume of collateralised transactions which will enhance market liquidity," it said. The central bank said Malaysia continued to strengthen its reputation as an international Islamic finance marketplace. Total foreign currency assets of Islamic banks grew by 10.1 per cent to US$7.59 billion (RM30.5 billion) in 2015 from US$6.89 billion (RM27.7 billion) in 2014, reflecting increased cross-border transactions in Islamic finance, it said. "Islamic finance has additionally gained further acceptance among ASEAN member states with the adoption of a resolution by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly during the year to promote diverse sources of funding to boost inter- and intra-regional trade," it said. It said the ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors also endorsed a broad framework for further ASEAN financial integration beyond 2015. "The framework sets out a ten-year plan based on the three pillars -- financial integration, financial stability and financial inclusion. "This will guide the priorities of the various ASEAN working committees that have been established to pursue further integration opportunities including in the financial sector liberalisation areas, capital market development and payment and settlement systems," it said. --BERNAMA