Friday: 7 May 2011

Malaysia Raises Interest Rates to 3% BLOOMBERG

Malaysia yesterday raised interest rates for the first time this year and asked banks to set aside more cash as reserves for a second time, joining India in stepping up the fight against inflation, amid surging oil and food prices worldwide.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) increased its overnight policy rate to 3 per cent from 2.75 per cent. The statutory reserve requirement level will rise to 3 per cent from 2 per cent, effective on May 16.

BNM governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the first to raise rates in Asia last year as the region led a recovery from the global recession, is resuming rate hikes after pausing since July as inflation accelerated to a 23-month high.

India boosted borrowing costs this week for the ninth time since mid-March of last year as rising prices force nations to tighten monetary policy at the risk of slowing growth. The South-east Asian nation’s economy may expand 5 to 6 per cent this year, easing from a decade-high of 7.2 per cent last year, according to the central bank.

Maybank's Dividend Reinvestment Plan

• 4 sen (3 sen net of taxation) to be paid in cash and
• an Electable Portion of 24 sen (18 sen net of taxation) that can be elected to be reinvested into new Maybank Shares.
  (Hereinafter referred to as the " Interim  Cash Dividend" )

Dividend History

Gross Dividends

 

 

  Profit Attributable to Shareholders and Dividend Payout Ratio

Najib proposes 15% flat income tax to lure back talented Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR

Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that the new transitional income tax incentive will be introduced alongside other incentives for returning Malaysian experts.

“I certainly hope these various changes will encourage more Malaysians working abroad with their varied experience and expertise to return and play an active part in our country’s economic transformation,” Mr Najib said at the opening of the Invest Malaysia 2011 conference.

His remarks drew gasps of surprise from conference delegates, reported

According to the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority’s website, resident individuals working in Malaysia are currently subjected to a graduated tax rate of up to 26 per cent on income earned in the country, after deducting personal reliefs.

Individuals who do not meet residence requirements are taxed at a flat rate of 26 per cent.

Other changes in store include limiting the current tax-free incentive for two cars under the REP to locally-assembled vehicles, and the introduction of new Residence Passes which will allow highly-skilled foreign workers to stay in Malaysia for 10 years.

According to the World Bank, the number of Malaysians leaving the country rose by more than 100-fold in a 45-year period, from 9,576 Malaysian emigrants in 1960 to 1,489,168 in 2005.

In an effort to reverse the brain drain, the Najib administration launched the Talent-Corp Malaysia agency last year to try and lure back the Malaysian diaspora and scout for foreign skilled professionals.

Mr Najib said that the TalentCorp will be taking the lead in the REP and has revised the programme parameters and qualifying criteria which will be announced in full at a later date. — The Malaysian government is hoping to lure Malaysian professionals working abroad with a flat income tax rate of 15 per cent for five years under the Returning Experts Programme (REP).The Malaysian Insider.Agencies

to s$1.9 trillion by 2020: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR

“With greater internationalisation, this figure could increase to as much as RM5.8 trillion over the same period,” Mr Najib said in his keynote address at the Invest Malaysia conference, an annual gathering of Malaysia’s top corporate leaders.

The Malaysian capital markets are now worth RM2 trillion, said Mr Najib, who is also Finance Minister.

Under the capital markets master plan, the government will make changes to the regulatory framework for fund raising and product creation, among other things, and allocate more funds to develop the venture capital and private equity industry, he said.

“And to boost large-scale transactions, access to the bond market will also be widened, strengthening investor appetite for a wide range of debt products and credit risks, expanding participation of the investment management industry and retail investors in fixed income investments, enhancing the market infrastructure,” Mr Najib added.

He also said the internationalisation of the capital market would be a necessary pre-requisite to strengthening Malaysia’s role as an Islamic capital market hub. The Islamic capital market in Malaysia is set to increase almost threefold to RM2.9 trillion by 2020 from RM1.1 trillion in 2010, he said.

Mr Najib also gave more details of the government’s plan to divest or pare its holdings in state-linked companies. The move is aimed at increasing liquidity in the country’s stock market and attracting more foreign investment while also raising capital to fund the country’s ambitious economic transformation plan, which seeks to raise Malaysia’s average per capita income to US$15,000 (S$18,850) by 2020 from about US$7,000 at present.

Mr Najib said the listing of the federal land authority Felda Global’s sugar refining unit, Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Co, would likely take place in July.

He added that Khazanah Nasional and other state-owned firms would divest stakes in at least 10 non-core assets by the end of the year. — Malaysia’s capital markets are expected to more than double in size to RM4.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion) by 2020, Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday as he announced a new 10-year blueprint to boost competitiveness.Dow Jones

Big strides towards 2020

Malaysia unveils tax breaks, multi-billion-dollar projects

KUALA LUMPUR

Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government would waive up to 100 per cent of taxes on investment in capital intensive petroleum projects, especially in deep-water and infrastructure activities. Tax rates will be cut from 38 per cent to 25 per cent for the development of marginal oil fields, while export duties on oil produced from these fields will be waived.

“By lowering risks and increasing the rewards for investment, this initiative will potentially lead to additional petroleum-generated revenue of more than RM50 billion ($20.85 billion) for Malaysia over the next 20 years,” said Mr Najib, who is also Finance Minister.

He said state-owned Tenaga Nasional will invest RM4 billion next year to build two hydropower plants and a large coal plant in peninsular Malaysia to cater to rising domestic demand. Private firm Tanjong Agas Supply Base and Marine Services will pour in RM3 billion over the next two years to develop an oil and gas hub in Pahang, he added.

Three new hotels costing nearly RM1 billion will be built by private investors, he said.

The projects are part of Mr Najib’s ambitious economic blueprint to secure US$444 billion ($585 billion) of investments over the next decade.

He aims to raise per capita income from US$6,700 to at least US$15,000 — meeting the World Bank’s benchmark for a highincome nation.

Also in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Finance Ministers from the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations said there was no need to coordinate on the massive inflows of foreign capital into the region for now.

Meanwhile, the proposed link-up between the Singapore Exchange and Bursa Malaysia will be expanded to include Thailand in the second half of next year and the Philippines in 2012, in a move that is expected to enhance access and liquidity in capital markets across the region.

— Malaysia yesterday announced plans for tax incentives to boost its oil and gas industry as well as new multi-billion-dollar projects to drive it towards the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020.Agencies, with additional reporting by Melissa Goh

Daily Technical Watch: OSK Holdings

¨       Further upside if it sustains at above RM1.90.

¨       Immediate Support at RM1.90     

¨       Immediate Resistance at RM2.10

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44 sen (4QFY09: 8 sen gross), as compared to our expected gross DPS of 18 sen.

This comprises an electable portion of 40 sen (gross), which can be elected to be reinvested in new Maybank shares. For the full-year, total gross DPS was 55 sen (FY09: 8 sen), which translates to a net payout ratio of 76.5%.