Tuesday October 25, 2011
PETALING JAYA: The number of millionaires has almost doubled in Malaysia over the last 18 months, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
Citing a report released this week by international financial firm Credit Suisse Group, WSJ wrote that since early 2010, Malaysia added 19,000 new millionaires, bringing its total to 39,000.
Comparatively, the number in Indonesia increased by 52,000 to 112,000, while the number of Singaporeans worth over US$1mil (RM3.15mil) is 183,000, triple what it was a year ago.
The growth spurt of the nouveau riche has been attributed to the weakening US dollar and stingy pockets.
Compared with the Credit Suisse numbers from early last year, these three countries alone have produced close to 190,000 new millionaires since the beginning of 2010.
However, this figure still fell short of the 212,000 new millionaires in China.
“Much of the rise is just a reflection of the weakening dollar, which makes the Singapore dollar- and rupiah-denominated riches look more impressive when translated into US dollars,” WSJ reported.
“Otherwise, it can be attributed to growing savings, stock and property prices.”
Credit Suisse defines wealth as a person's financial and real estate assets minus their debt.
(Networth = Financial Asset + Real Estate Asset - Debt)
The report also said that the average Singaporean was wealthier in comparison to the rest of the world, with the average household wealth at US$285,000 (RM897,000).
This makes them the fifth wealthiest people in the world after Switzerland, Australia, Norway and France.
Average household wealth in Indonesia, on the other hand, hovered at only around US$12,000 (RM37,771).
“Strong currencies, rising property prices, climbing commodity prices and healthy stock markets have helped the region but the real secret to Southeast Asia's success may be how stingy money makers are here,”WSJ noted.
“Average household debt, which offsets much of savings and investments in Western countries, is very low in the region.
“It is only 13% of total assets in Singapore and 2.5% of total assets in Indonesia.”
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