Washington

MALAYSIA'S central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the nation's fiscal position is improving and the ringgit is undervalued even as growth prospects weaken, in a rebuttal to Fitch Ratings and investors who have soured on the country in recent months.

The nation's banking sector is "very solid" and the fiscal deficit has narrowed in recent years, she said in an interview in Washington on Saturday. Malaysia's current interest rates are accommodative and conditions now are allowing the central bank to maintain borrowing costs "at these levels", she said.