Issuance of Samurai Bond successful, attracts oversubscription – Lim

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has successfully issued the Samurai Bond with oversubscription of more than 1.6 times at 324.7 billion yen against 200 billion yen offered, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The oversubscription of the yen-dominated bond according to him, was a testament of confidence on the country’s economy by various Japanese institutions and investors.

“We have successfully issued the Samurai Bond and this shows the government’s effort to ensure people benefit from (the bond),” he said during the Minister’s Question Session at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here, yesterday.

The Finance Minister said that when replying to a supplementary question by Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PH-Kapar) on the government’s move in attracting foreign investors to Malaysia.

The government had successfully issued the Samurai Bond, guaranteed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for a maturity tenure of 10 years with overall cost to the government at 0.63 per cent per annum.

Proceeds from the issuance of Samurai Bond would be used to fund infrastructure developments including the construction of schools, hospitals, roads and utilities.

The lead arranger for the bond’s issuance were Mizuho Bank, HSBC Malaysia and Daiwa Securities with the cooperation of Affin Hwang Investment Bank.

Meanwhile, Lim said the government was trying to restore Malaysia’s economy to enable it to lower the corporate tax within three years.

For small and medium enterprises with paid-up capital of RM2.5 million and below, the corporate tax had been successfully lowered to 17 per cent from 18 per cent as previously, he said.

“Besides that, the flexible loans by commercial banks is capable in restoring the confidence of foreign investors, with a notable increase in Foreign Direct Investment during the first nine months of 2019, ” added Lim.