Malaysia freezes yen loans: report<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia has no immediate plans to borrow
\nmoney from Japan as the soaring yen was seriously affecting its
\neconomy, a local financial daily here reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"One-third of the total federal government debt is in yen and
\nwe are at the mercy of the Japanese,\" the Business Times quoted
\nMustapha Mohamed, Malaysia's deputy finance minister, as saying.
\nKuala Lumpur had to pay 500 million ringgit (US$200 million)
\nannually to service its yen loans despite reducing its Japanese
\nborrowings by 4.6 percent to 648.3 billion yen ($66.6 billion) in
\nthe first three months of this year, Mustapha said.<\/p>\n
He said the government had no intention of undertaking more
\nyen-denominated loans \"as for now\" and also discouraged private
\nsector borrowing from Japan.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's yen-denominated loans made up seven billion ringgit
\nor 35 percent of its total debt for last year compared with six
\nbillion ringgit or 28.7 percent of the debt value in 1992.<\/p>\n
Economists blamed the growing debt partly on Malaysia's heavy
\nreliance on Japanese technology and heavy equipment to propel
\nindustrial progress.<\/p>\n
Mustapha said Malaysia's national Proton car -- manufactured
\nunder a joint-venture with Japan's Mitsubishi group -- was a
\n\"classic example\" of the impact of the sharp appreciation of the
\nyen.<\/p>\n
Proton prices started at 17,000 ringgit after its launch in
\n1985 but have risen steadily to a minimum of 31,000 ringgit now.
\nMustapha said although a silver lining was expected in the surge
\nof yen through more Japanese companies seeking cheaper production
\nbases in Southeast Asia, Malaysia still had to compete for such
\ninvestments.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-freezes-yen-loans-report-1447893297",
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