After clearing a key vote in parliament, Malaysia is set to raise the limit on government debt for the second time in a little over a year as it seeks to fund additional pandemic support measures and bolster its economic recovery, Bloomberg News reported. A majority of lawmakers in the lower house voted for increasing the statutory debt ceiling to 65% of gross domestic product until end-2022, from 60%. The bill will next head to the senate, controlled by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s coalition, before it’s signed into law by the king.
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Malaysia
Malaysia saw 1,246 companies forced to wind down while 10,317 individuals filed for bankruptcy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to July 2021, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob said, The Edge Markets reported. Of the forced winding-down incidents, some 497 cases or 39.89% were companies registered in the federal territories, followed by Selangor with 273 cases or 21.91%.
IOI Properties Group — controlled by billionaire brothers Lee Yeow Chor and Lee Yeow Seng — submitted the only bid for a mixed-use hotel and residential site as the Malaysian developer doubles down on its investment in Marina Bay, Singapore’s downtown financial district, Forbes reported. Boulevard View, a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia-listed IOI Properties, offered S$1.51 billion ($1.1 billion) for the 99-year leasehold site, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said late Tuesday.
Malaysia’s long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X Bhd has obtained court permission to extend the deadline to convene its creditor meetings to March next year, it said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. AirAsia X said the High Court granted an order for an extension until March 17 for it to convene separate meetings of the creditors “for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, approving with or without modification” a restructuring scheme to be proposed.
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Malaysian Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who retained the post in the new government announced Friday by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has his work cut out for him, Bloomberg News reported. In October, Zafrul is set to unveil the 2022 federal budget to what may be the most divided parliament in Malaysia’s history. The spending plan will need to address an economy weakened by protracted lockdowns and a raging Covid outbreak, amid steep financial constraints and a deficit target that was already revised higher twice this year.
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The number of Malaysians becoming bankrupt and the number of companies closing down or winding up may increase when the current moratorium on bank loans ends, two economists said, Malay Mail reported. Sunway University economics professor Yeah Kim Leng said that the loan moratorium allows financially-distressed borrowers to avoid becoming bankrupt by postponing loan repayments, but said this would mean that there could be more bankruptcies once the moratorium period ends, The Sunday Star reported today.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has repatriated $452 million in misappropriated funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), it said in a statement on Thursday, bringing the total amount recovered from the corruption scandal to $1.2 billion, Reuters reported. The funds, which were repatriated to Malaysia, had been laundered through major financial institutions worldwide, including in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, and Luxembourg, the statement said. "The funds include both funds finally forfeited and funds the Department assisted in recovering and returning.
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Malaysia will lower its economic growth outlook for this year due to movement restrictions against Covid, the country’s finance minister said, signaling the government may forecast expansion around 4%, Bloomberg News reported. While there’s optimism that the current surge in cases can be contained and lockdowns can be eased, the government still expects to lower its gross domestic product estimate for 2021, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said on Monday.
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak faltered in his bid to get a High Court to halt bankruptcy proceedings against him for failing to pay a tax bill totalling RM1.74 billion (S$560 million), Bloomberg News reported. Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Ahmad Bache on Monday dismissed Najib’s application for a stay of execution, according to an email exchange between the court and relevant parties. Separately, the court of appeal will hear Najib’s plea on June 16, according to his lawyer Farhan Shafee.
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Malaysia today said the U.S. Department of Justice has returned 1.9 billion ringgit ($460.22 million) of funds recovered from assets related to sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Reuters reported. Malaysian and U.S. investigators say that at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014, in a wide-ranging scandal that has implicated high-level officials, banks and financial institutions around the world. The United States has been returning funds it has recovered from seized assets that were allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB money.
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