Asia Economy

Malaysia's national oil and gas giant Petronas plans to launch two major Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in November, Petronas Chemical and Malaysia Maritime and Heavy Engineering (MMHE), as part of a government initiative to transfer strategic assets to the private sector. The Petronas Chemical listing is set to become one of the biggest IPOs in Malaysian – and indeed South-east Asian – history.

The Bank of Indonesia, the country's central bank, called leading bankers to a meeting last week to discuss new regulations aimed at increasing bank lending. While Indonesia's banking sector has remained relatively robust over the last 18 months, there are concerns that banks are not doing enough to offer credit to certain sectors of the economy, a situation that is stifling potential growth.