Kuala Lumpur, Feb 27 – Malaysia will continue to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) with the increasing cost of doing business in China, says Citibank Bhd Chief Executive Officer, Sanjeev Nanavati Wednesday.
Malaysia’s conducive political environment within the Asean region, coupled with an improved economic outlook in the United States and Europe this year, will also support the country’s FDI inflow, he said.
Last year, Malaysia attracted RM38.774 billion in FDI, the highest in the country’s history.
“We remain optimistic over Malaysia’s FDI, supported by the economic growth of the US and Europe, and with the export capabilities of the country,” he told at a media briefing to announce Citibank’s outlook on FDI opportunities in Malaysia in 2014, here Wednesday.
Following export recovery, the Ringgit is also expected to strengthen against the US dollar and Euro in the second half of 2014, Sanjeev said.
Meanwhile, Chief Investment Strategist for Wealth Management, Haren Shah said that overall, the bank remained bullish on global equities with positive returns expected for all regions.
“For the full year, we see more upside with the best seen for the United Kingdom, Japan and Asian markets,” he added.
On equities, Haren said the developed markets would remain strong but Citibank’s preference, at least for the first half, would be Europe and Japan.
“As for bonds, even though we are underweight from a portfolio asset allocation perspective, our preference is for high yield bonds as they tend to hold up better in rising yield environments,” he added.
– Bernama
