24/03/2011 (Business Times) - Malaysia will introduce new lending guidelines for financial institutions in the third quarter of this year, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

This is to ensure “responsible” lending practices, she said.

The central bank said Malaysia, the world’s second- biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, increased its production of natural gas by 4.4 percent to 6.065 billion cubic feet last year.

Crude oil and condensate production declined 3.5 percent to 635,890 barrels a day, Bank Negara Malaysia said in its annual report in Kuala Lumpur today.

Qatar is the world’s biggest exporter of LNG.

Palm oil output in Malaysia, the second-largest grower, will increase this year as normal weather returns to growing regions, and higher prices may spur rubber production, according to the central bank.

“Palm oil output is projected to recover in the second half of the year in line with an expected normalization of weather conditions during the period,” Bank Negara Malaysia said in its annual report, which was released today. “High rubber prices amid low global stocks and strong global demand will continue to encourage tapping activity during the year.”

Malaysia’s palm oil output may expand to 17.6 million metric tons this year from 17 million tons in 2010, as yields improve, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok said March 8. Futures touched a 35-month high of RM3,967 (US$1,311) a ton on Feb. 10 as excess rainfall curbed output in Malaysia and Indonesia, the top producers.

Rubber production in Malaysia climbed 9.6 percent to 939,241 tons in 2010 on higher tapping activity, according to the central bank. Palm oil output fell 3.3 percent to 17 million tons last year, it said.

Malaysia’s agriculture sector may grow 3.4 percent this year, spurred by higher production of food crops, the central bank said in the report. -- Bloomberg.