The government issued bonds worth RM61.45 billion in the second quarter versus RM69.5 billion in the first quarter, according to the BPAM Bond League Tables reports for 2nd quarter 2023 released by Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BPAM) today.
The government issued conventional and Islamic bonds (sukuk) worth RM50.45 billion and RM80.5 billion respectively in the six-month period ending June 30, 2023.
Trailing a distant second in the bonds league table was Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). The central bank issued bonds worth RM14 billion, split equally between conventional and Islamic bonds, in the first half of 2023.
In third place was Cagamas Bhd which issued bonds worth RM8.92 billion in the first half, comprising RM5.23 billion of conventional bonds and RM3.69 billion Islamic bonds.
According to BNM’s website, Malaysian government securities or bonds are marketable debt instruments issued by the government to raise funds from the domestic capital market. Currently, the various forms of government securities are:
- Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) – long-term interest-bearing debt securities issued to raise funds for development expenditure;
- Malaysian Government Investment Issues (MGII) – long-term Islamic government securities issued based on established Shariah principles;
- Malaysian Treasury Bills (MTB) – short-term discount securities issued for working capital; and
- Malaysian Islamic Treasury Bills (MITB) – short-term Islamic government securities issued based on established Shariah principles.
Cagamas leads in corporate bonds
For the second quarter, the top corporate bond issuer was Cagamas with bonds totalling RM3.86 billion while the top sukuk issuer was Maybank Islamic Bhd with RM4 billion worth of bonds.
Government bonds were the most actively traded, giving the Malaysian government the accolade of being the top traded bond overall with transactions valued at RM229.2 billion in the second quarter.
Rounding off the league table were Malaysian Trustees Bhd which was the top bond trustee overall (by value, with RM24.99 billion) and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, which was the top lead arranger overall with bonds valued at RM12.1 billion.
Released quarterly, the BPAM Bond League Tables reports highlight the bond market performance and rankings of key bond market players in the given period.