GOMBAK: The government has appointed eight banking institutions to establish a foreign-exchange risk-management mechanism to finance the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.
The execution of the Joint Lead Coordinator (JLC) deal represents a strategic step in strengthening the financing governance framework of the ECRL project.
By appointing banking insti-tutions as JLCs, a more structured, transparent, and disciplined foreign exchange risk management mecha-nism can be implemented to manage the settlement of the loan in renminbi.
Minister of Finance II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan officiated the signing of a JLC agreement between Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and the eight banking institutions at the ECRL Gombak Integrated Terminal Station involving MRL, as the owner of the ECRL project, together with Maybank, CIMB, RHB, AmBank, Bank of China, United Overseas Bank, China Construction Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
This initiative also reflects MRL’s continued commitment to en-0hancing corporate governance.
It is the first of its kind in Malaysia for a government-linked company (GLC) and has the potential to serve as a benchmark for financial management in large-scale projects in the future.
The mechanism is expected to improve exchange rate certainty and reduce exposure to currency market volatility, thereby ensuring that the project’s financial management is carried out more efficiently and in line with international financial market best practices.
For the record, the construction of the ECRL project, spanning 665km with 20 stations, costs RM50.27 billion.
MRL, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance (Incorporated), has secured a term loan of RM37.4 billion from the Export-Import Bank of China at an interest rate of 3.25% to finance the development of this national infrastructure project.
The JLC agreement signing ceremony was also attended by Chief Secretary to the Government and MRLchairman Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, Public Service director-general Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, Finance Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong, MRL CEO Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak, and China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd managing director Deng Bo.
Amir Hamzah also officiated the completion of track construction for the ECRL from Kota Bharu to Gombak, covering the main alignment of 519km.
The ceremony marks another significant milestone for the ECRL project, which connects the East Coast states with the Klang Valley.
The 665km ECRL project has now reached 92.62% completion as of February 2026, in line with the schedule to complete the Kota Bharu–Gombak alignment by the end of this year and commence commercial operations in January 2027.
The ECRL alignment between Gombak and Port Klang is expected to be completed by December 2027 and fully operational by January 2028.
