Malaysia is planning to impose a cash transaction limit (CTL) of RM25,000 starting next year to further strengthen the country’s financial integrity.

“This is to address the abuse of physical cash used for illicit activities,” Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) deputy governor and chairperson of the National Coordination Committee to Counter Money-Laundering (NCC) Rasheed Ghaffour said.

However, industries with large cash transactions such as high-value dealers, medical tourism, hotels and wholesale companies are exempted from the CTL, he said at a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur today.

This exemption is to balance the genuine needs of industries with large cash transactions.

Rasheed said the move would not affect households as NCC’s engagement with over 1,000 individuals across the country revealed that large, single cash transactions on average among the Bottom 40 percent (B40) income group were RM2,284, Middle 40 percent (M40) income group (RM4,104) and Top 20 percent (T20)  income group (RM7,843).

In January, BNM lowered the daily cash threshold report (CTR) from RM50,000 to RM25,000.

Up to September 2019, over five million CTR reports were received, representing about RM483 billion in cash transactions. - Bernama