Emerging Markets Rates and Currencies Handbook

30 Citi | Emerging Markets Currencies Handbook 2021 MALAYSIA (MYR — Malaysian Ringgit) Citi in Malaysia Citi’s presence in Malaysia dates back to July 1959, serving both consumer and corporate clients. Citi Malaysia is a market leader in credit cards, holding the largest market share in sales volume (usage) and receivables, and has a dominant share in wealth management. Within the corporate sphere, Citi Malaysia banks with 95% of target market top tier local companies and multinationals in the country. Citi is the top foreign owned bank for corporate FX, cross border cash management, e-payments and institutional investor transactions. Citibank is the only foreign owned bank to be rated AAA by the Rating Agency Malaysia for 15 consecutive years. Market Overview Foreign Exchange Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the central bank of Malaysia maintains the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) under a managed floating system. BNM monitors the exchange rate against a currency basket to ensure that the exchange rate remains close to its fair value. MYR is a non-internationalized currency, thus any offshore trading of MYR such as MYR non-deliverable forwards (NDF) is not recognized. While the MYR is not convertible outside of Malaysia, the authorities have over the years provided greater flexibility to improve business efficiency and enhance corporates’ FX risk management. Interest Rate Malaysia has a dual banking system, where the non-interest rate based Islamic banking system operates alongside the interest rate based conventional banking system. BNM provides guidance on interest rate via the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR).