M’sia’s international investment records net assets RM21.5 bln

KUALALUMPUR: Malaysia’s international investment recorded a net assets position of RM21.5 billion as of end-September, according to the Statistics Department.

In a statement, it said total financial assets position had narrowed by 1.1 per cent to RM1.698 trillion as of the end of the third quarter (Q3) while that of total liabilities increased by RM1.8 billion to post RM1.676 trillion.

As of the end of Q2 2017, the net assets position stood at RM42.3 billion, with financial assets totalling RM1.717 trillion and liabilities at RM1.675 trillion.

Meantime, Direct Investment Abroad (DIA) recorded RM554.0 billion compared with RM573.5 billion as of the end of Q2, mainly in financial and insurance (34.5 per cent) and mining (19.6 per cent) sectors with Singapore and Indonesia as top DIA destinations.

As for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), it had grown to RM558.7 billion against RM556.7 billion of end-Q2 with Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong as top investing countries.

The manufacturing sector re- mained the highest FDI recipient at 41.4 per cent, followed by the financial and insurance sector (21.3 per cent) and information and communications (7.8 per cent).

As of end-September, portfolio investment had shown a net liabilities position of RM331.0 billion, a decrease of RM13.0 billion from Q2 2017 while the stock of other investment posted a net liabilities position of RM73.0 billion.

Bank Negara Malaysia’s international reserves stood at RM427.7 billion as of end- September against RM424.8 billion as of endJune. — Bernama