Bank Negara Malaysia wishes to announce the introduction of a new Islamic monetary instrument, the Bank Negara Monetary Notes-Istithmar (BNMN-Istithmar).

Issuance of BNMN-Istithmar is based on the Istithmar (investment) concept which refers to portfolio investments into a combined structure of sale and lease-back of assets (Ijarah) and commodity mark-up sale transaction (Murabahah).

The main objective of issuing BNMN-Istithmar is to increase efficiency and flexibility of liquidity management in the Islamic money market by expanding the Shariah concept used in Bank Negara Malaysia's Islamic monetary instruments. BNMN-Istithmar would contribute towards expanding investment instruments and the investor base as well as promote greater liquidity in the Islamic money market.

BNMN-Istithmar will be traded using current market conventions and is accorded the same regulatory treatment as all existing Bank Negara Monetary Notes Issuance. The issuance of BNMN-Istithmar will be conducted through competitive auction via the domestic Principal Dealer network.

The inaugural issuance will be on 21 June 2011 with an issue size of RM500 million.