KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's net international investment position for the first quarter this year recorded a lower net assets position of RM10.9 billion from RM110.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, said the statistics department in a statement on Friday.
It said Malaysian-owned assets abroad decreased by RM111 billion to RM1.56 trillion, while foreign-owned assets in Malaysia declined by RM11.6 billion to RM1.54 trillion.
Direct investment registered a net assets position of RM31.1 billion at the end of of the first quarter, down RM51.5 billion from Dec 31, 2015.
Direct investment abroad (DIA) stock stood at RM528.8 billion at the end of the first quarter(Q4 2015: RM587.5 billion), generated mainly in the financial and insurance sector (31.1%) followed by the mining sector (26.1%) and information and communications sector (9.1%).
The top three DIA destinations were Singapore, Indonesia and Canada.
The foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Malaysia accounted for RM497.7 billion at the end of March 2016 (Q4 2015: RM504.9 billion).
The manufacturing sector remained the highest FDI recipient at 42.9%, followed by the financial and insurance sector (22.1%) and information and communications sector (9.2%), with the top three investing countries for FDI being Singapore, Japan and the Netherlands.
At the end of the first quarter, portfolio investment showed a net liabilities position of RM355.9 billion from net liabilities of RM326.6 billion previously.
The level of portfolio investment assets stood at RM279.6 billion, with the total stock value of portfolio investment liabilities at RM635.5 billion.
The position of other investments at the end of March 2016 recorded net liabilities of RM47.5 billion, while the position of other investment assets in the first quarter accumulated to RM269.6 billion and the position of other investment liabilities accounted for RM317.1 billion.
The international reserves of Bank Negara decreased to RM381.5 billion at the end of March 2016 from RM409.1 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015. - Bernama
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