THE positive surprise outlook of the country by Fitch Ratings Agency is news that was awaited with trepidation. That the international rating agency has upgraded Malaysias sovereign rating to stable, although it had indicated a negative outlook and cautioned of a downgrade in July last year, is proof that the countrys economic fundamentals are still strong. For many months, Malaysia had been forewarned that its rating could be moved one notch lower from A- to BBB and the local bourse had been in the red for the past few weeks. The bearish signals by the sovereign rating agency on Wednesday came as a relief to the investing community, with stocks rallying and the ringgit, which had seen a 10-year-low just the day before, rebounded, strengthening 1.2 per cent against the US dollar. Indeed, Malaysias fiscal finances did appear ominous in 2013 when the general government deficit stood at 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product. But that fell to 3.8 per cent last year.
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