PMO welcomes S&P's latest assessment

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has expressed satisfaction with the Standard & Poor's (S&P) reaffirmation of its ratings in various 'A' categories for short and long-term credit ratings for Malaysia.

In its latest Facebook post Monday night, the PMO said the rating agency also affirmed its 'axAAA/axA-1+' for the ASEAN regional scale rating for Malaysia.

"The rating agency also believes that Malaysia's fiscal deficits and the government debts are moderate, taking into consideration the country's 'strong external position' and 'considerable monetary flexibility'," it said.

The PMO noted that for 2015, S&P expected the ringgit prevailing position would boost exports of manufactured goods and partly offset the impact of the country's lower earnings from weaker oil prices.

It said S&P was of the view that it "does not believe that the government's contingent liabilities" in regards to its fiscal debt position would "materialise significantly".

In addition, S&P was of the opinion that the government's debt position had peaked at 49 percent of the gross domestic product in 2013 with the public debt declining gradually thereafter.

"We are also pleased that S&P endorses the government's economic and financial measures undertaken thus far, stating that these measures have been and are expected to continue to be 'effective' and of 'sound policymaking'," the PMO said.