00:00The Ringgit remained broadly stable against currencies of Malaysia's major trading partners
00:05in the second quarter of this year, and this was reflected in the relatively stable nominal
00:11effective exchange rate in the second quarter of this year at 0.8 per cent depreciation.
00:18As a small and open economy, Malaysia was inevitably influenced by global developments,
00:24including shifts in market expectations regarding the direction of the US monetary policy
00:29and developments surrounding the Middle East conflict.
00:33As a small and open economy, Malaysia was inevitably influenced by these global developments,
00:39including shifts in the market expectations regarding the direction of the US monetary policy
00:44and developments surrounding the Middle East conflict.
00:48Nonetheless, despite global uncertainties, the Ringgit continued to demonstrate resilience,
00:53and this is supported by strong fundamentals of the Malaysian economy and the sustained growth momentum.
01:01Additionally, the ongoing initiatives to support healthy two-way flows,
01:05such as the Qualified Resident Investor Programme that we introduced last year,
01:10these have also helped underpin Ringgit's resilience.
01:13On year-to-date basis, the Ringgit's overall performance has remained broadly in line
01:18with the currencies of our major trading partners reflected in relatively stable NEER.
01:24As at 12 August 2026, year-to-date, there was minus 1.1 per cent.
01:30Let's move on to the banking system.
01:32The banking system continues to support economic growth.
01:36The bank's healthy capital and liquidity buffers ensure that they remain well-positioned
01:42to meet the financing needs of the economy.
01:46The quality of business and household loans also remain sound with low and stable impairment ratios.
01:53Newly restructured and rescheduled loans are also limited. It's quite small.
01:59This reflects the robust loan affordability assessments and the prudent provisioning practices by banks
02:06that has helped to preserve their loss-absorbing capacity.
02:10On aggregate, credit growth to the private non-financial sector increased to 6.4 per cent.
02:16And this is higher than the first quarter, which was at 5.6 per cent.
02:21And we see this increase particularly among the business segment.
02:24Corporate bonds expanded by 8.1 per cent.
02:27Again, this is higher as compared to the first quarter at 5.9 per cent.
02:31And this is amid the higher issuance for working capital needs.
02:34This was accompanied by stronger business loans growth at 7.2 per cent,
02:41with sustained disbursements across business segments.
02:45Meanwhile, household loans growth remained broadly stable at 5.4 per cent during the quarter.
02:51Last quarter was at 5.5 per cent.
02:55Financing conditions also remained healthy.
02:58And overall, banks and DFIs continue to finance the SMEs.
03:04SME financing outstanding continued to grow by 4.2 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
03:11And financing activity remained supported by the higher financing approvals, particularly for investment-related purposes.
03:19Approval rates continued to be sustained as banks continue to meet financing demand across all sectors of the economy,
03:27particularly in agriculture, mining and quarrying, and construction.
03:33Bank of Malaysia remains mindful of economic disruptions that are coming from the Middle East conflict and its impact on
03:40the SMEs.
03:41While the immediate focus is on short-term stabilisation, we must not lose sight of the longer-term resilience.
03:48And to this end, we have proactively introduced the 5 billion ringgit SME stabilisation relief facility.
03:55We call it the SME SRF.
03:57And this fund is to assist SMEs, including the micro-entrepreneurs as well, that's affected by the Middle East conflict.
04:04The facility provides working capital support for viable businesses for them to sustain operations and to navigate this period of
04:15uncertainty.
04:16To date, we have approved about 2.8 billion ringgit under this fund, benefiting more than 4,900 SME accounts.
04:27And this facility remains open for application until the end of this year or until the fund is fully utilised.
04:38Meanwhile, structural enhancements in the financing ecosystem are also equally key in helping today's SMEs to weather shocks, capture new
04:47opportunities and emerge as future domestic champions.
04:52To support this, we have introduced a 10 billion ringgit guarantee scheme delivered by the Credit Guarantee Corporation.
05:00And these schemes aims to mobilise private sector financing more effectively, focusing on key areas, including inclusion, climate, productivity and
05:13also resilience.
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