Ringgit volatility tests bond investors' faith in M'sia

Singapore

FOREIGN investors in Malaysia's bond markets have stayed put through months of economic and political uncertainty, but a sudden spurt in currency volatility appears to be testing that allegiance.

Foreign fund managers and other investors have been heavily invested in Malaysia - they hold nearly half of outstanding government bonds - through the ringgit's slide in the first half of the year on worries about US monetary policy tightening, falling global oil prices and an alleged scandal at a local state fund.