RAM reaffirms Malaysia’s global, Asean-scale sovereign ratings

KUALA LUMPUR: RAM Rating Services Bhd has reaffirmed Malaysia’s respective global and Asean-scale sovereign ratings of ‘A2/stable’ and ‘AAA/stable’, respectivly, reflecting the country’s resilient economic growth and the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts.
In a statement yesterday, RAM said, although Malaysia’s external-resilience parameters had worsened amid a sustained fall in commodity prices and the country’s reduced foreign exchange reserves, they were still supportive of its current ratings.
The agency said Malaysia’s ratings remained constrained by high government and household debt levels.
Its head of sovereign ratings, Esther Lai, said the country’s economy was forecast to expand at a marginally faster pace of 4.5% in 2017 from an estimated 4.2% in 2016, underpinned by growing private domestic demand and a diversified economic structure.
“This pace of economic activity remains resilient despite various growth headwinds, which include the increase in prices of various consumer goods, persistent depreciation of the ringgit and heightened global risk aversion to emerging markets,” she said. – Bernama