KULAA LUMPUR, ay 27 — Moody’s Investors Service said financial woes at state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd (!MDB) aren’t a sign of broad-based distress, with government-linked corporates and other debt issuers seen withstanding the country’s economic slowdown.

The Malaysian economy is expected to have a “soft landing” with growth easing to 4.8 per cent in 2015 from 6 per cent last year, Moody’s said in a report yesterday.

Risks include low commodity prices, currency weakness and contingent liabilities, according to Rahul Ghosh, a vice president with the ratings company.

“The majority of Moody’s-rated entities will absorb adverse external conditions over the coming quarters due to their low exposure to commodity prices and exchange rate volatility,” it said.

“Malaysia’s sovereign rating of A3 incorporates a prolonged period of subdued global energy prices in 2015.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has trimmed expectations for expansion this year as his government cut expenditure amid lower expected revenue from oil.

While Moody’s has a positive outlook on Malaysia’s sovereign ranking, Fitch Ratings said the country’s fundamental picture remains clouded in part by the buildup of contingent liabilities related to 1MDB’s debt.

A plunge in crude oil prices has contributed to the ringgit’s slump of more than 11 per cent against the US dollar in the past year.

Officials have sought to downplay the importance of energy exports to the economy, and the government targets reducing dependence on oil-related revenue to 15.5 per cent by 2020 from 21.5 per cent this year.

Should global commodity prices, and oil in particular, “correct significantly and remain depressed” in 2015 and 2016, Malaysia could see twin fiscal and current-account deficits and renewed capital outflows, Moody’s said.

Malaysia is ranked at its fourth-lowest investment grade.

“While not Moody’s baseline scenario, such a situation would lead Moody’s to reconsider its core views of relative stability for the sovereign and rated entities in Malaysia over the coming quarters,” it said. — Bloomberg