August 04, 2009

PETALING JAYA: Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services maintained its Group 4 Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) on Malaysia, while it revised the gross problematic assets (GPA) in the local system to 10%-20% range from the previous 15%-30% range.“Standard & Poor’s expects the Malaysian financial system to be sufficiently resilient against exogenous shocks, characterised by greater volatility in financial markets during credit cycles,’’ credit analyst Ivan Tan said in a statement.

“The system is underpinned by its stable funding base and strengthened balance sheet from several years of benign credit conditions prior to 2008,’’ he added.BICRA reflects the strengths and weakness of a country banking system relative to those in other countries. It classifies countries into 10 groups, from the strongest (Group 1) to the weakest (Group 10) in terms of country risk.