KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Non-resident holdings of government bonds registered inflows of RM15 billion during April and May 2017, said Bank Negara Malaysia.

In May, non-resident holdings increased by RM9 billion with more than 70 per cent going into medium-to-longer-term papers, accounting for 26.3 per cent of the total outstanding as at end of last month, the central bank said in a statement today.

Nevertheless, this was in contrast with outflows observed between January and March, which recorded total government bond divestments of RM34.3 billion, of which 95 per cent comprised short-term papers.

Bank Negara said the recent Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) auction recorded a healthy bid-to- cover ratio of 3.3 times.

"The average daily trading volume in the secondary bond market recorded RM3.6 billion in May (April: RM3.7 billion),” it said.

MGS short-selling volume increased slightly to RM1.1 billion in May from a monthly average of RM872 million prior to the announcement, it added. — Bernama