From Reuters: Corporate defaults in Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s largest bond market, could hit the highest level this year since the 1997 financial crisis as firms struggle to repay borrowings, a rating agency said.

RAM Ratings, which says it rates about three quarters of corporate bonds in Malaysia worth 160 billion ringgit ($45.11 billion), said 4.8 percent of the issuers it rates could default in 2009 in the worse-case scenario, including Islamic bonds or sukuk………Full Article: Source