KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): Foreign holdings in Malaysia’s capital market are currently at 19.4% as at January 2025, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, explained that the holdings of foreign investors in the country’s capital market have remained at around 19% since 2023, increasing to 19.7% at the end of 2024.

"In January 2025, it is still 19.4%, (so that slight decrease) does not reflect (lack of) confidence in the national economy," he said during the Minister's Question Time session in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday in reply to a question from Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang), who asked about the reason why many foreign investors were selling their shareholdings in the country.

Anwar also said global equity research firms such as Nomura Global Market Research, JPMorgan and HSBC have upgraded their recommendations for public company shares.

Investment value increases, bond flows positive

The prime minister also said foreign investment into the country as a whole recorded an increase as seen for the first nine months of last year.

“I have to remind you that we have to look at the whole, which is the fact that for the first nine months, the gross domestic product (GDP) was still encouraging.

“The value of investment in the first nine months of 2024 increased by 10.7% compared to the same period in 2023, this is a considerable increase,” he said.

Anwar said the bond market also showed a positive net flow.

"So far this year, the net inflow of bond investment is RM1.55 billion. Thus, if investors are not convinced, they would not have invested RM1.55 billion," he said.

The prime minister also emphasised that what is important to him is the rate of growth, increased investment and the strength of the ringgit.

"This is actually a sign in terms of fundamentals even though the problem is worldwide. Especially with some of President Donald Trump's recent decisions that affect Europe, Canada, Mexico, China, Latin America and Africa as a whole," he added.

Meanwhile, in response to additional questions and suggestions from Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut), Anwar agreed with the proposed change in the leadership of Bursa Malaysia, with the intention of providing an opportunity for reforms.

Anwar, on another matter, criticised the opposition's claim that issues related to additional documents had caused the influx of foreign investment into Malaysia to collapse.

He described the claim as nonsensical and not based on facts, which showed that the volume of domestic stock trading increased to RM2 trillion last year.

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Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja