Malaysia's status upgraded

Malaysia's status upgraded

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): International credit-rating agency Moody's Investors Service upgraded Malaysia's classification to "stable" today, indicating that the Southeast Asian nation was a good site for investors who wanted to buy bonds.

The upgrade follows a slew of optimistic forecasts about the Malaysian economy, which last year sank to its worst recession in more than one decade.

On Tuesday, The International Monetary Fund projected growth of 0.9 percent for Malaysia this year and 2 percent next year.

The hike in rating from "negative" to "stable" came three weeks after Standard & Poor's similarly revised its outlook for the country.

Both agencies had downgraded Malaysia after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad introduced harsh controls on the movement of capital in and out of the country.