Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said as of last week, the bonds had seen a subscription of 324.7 billion yen.

“This is a 1.6 times oversubscription. This shows confidence in the country’s economy among Japanese financial institutions and investors,” he said in reply to Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PH-Kapar).

Abdullah Sani, in a supplementary question, had asked about the government’s measures to attract foreign investment.

The government issued the samurai bond, guaranteed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, for a maturity tenure of 10 years with overall cost to the government at 0.63% per annum.

Proceeds from the issuance of the samurai bond will be used to fund infrastructure developments, including the construction of schools, hospitals, roads, and utilities.

The lead arrangers for the bond’s issuance were Mizuho Bank, HSBC Malaysia and Daiwa Securities with the cooperation of Affin Hwang Investment Bank.

Earlier, Noraini Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) asked whether the government planned to restructure the taxation system in the country to ensure shared prosperity among the people.

Noraini said measures such as reducing the corporate tax to boost the birth of new companies could create job opportunities.

To this, Lim (PH-Bagan) said the government had restructured the tax system with the abolition of the goods and services tax, replacing it with the sales and services tax which is easier and less burdensome to the people.

He said the government had also contributed to a reduction in consumer price index which fell by 0.7%, the first dip in 10 years.

“We have also reduced corporate tax from small-medium enterprises with a paid-up capital of RM2.5 million and below from 18% to 17% to further boost the sector’s growth,” he said.