KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has refined operational arrangement relating to export proceeds conversion rules to facilitate businesses’ banking needs, effective Feb 6, 2017.

Onshore banks can now utilise export proceeds conversion of less than US$1 million per transaction to meet their clients’ foreign currency requirements without referring to the central bank.

"This allows the onshore banks to better manage their conversion operations during the day without compromising on the overall objective of the measures announced on Dec 2, 2016,” BNM said in a statement today.

Hence, the changes made effective from Feb 6 are not an easing of restrictions as reported by an English daily, but rather a refinement of existing operational arrangements between onshore banks and BNM, it said.

The paper reported that BNM has eased some of the restrictions in the foreign exchange (forex) market to allow for some trading of US dollar/ringgit transactions between local banks.

BNM asserts that onshore banks have always been free to trade in any amount in the domestic foreign exchange interbank market. — Bernama