Palm oil prices, similar to other edible oils and commodity prices, are highly sensitive to external shocks which have become particularly prominent in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The non-stationary nature of the palm oil price complicates the modelling and forecasting of its behaviour. This study investigates the impact of the external and internal shocks on Malaysian palm oil (MPO) prices using the SVAR methodology. The SVAR model utilised in this study is unique in that it employs the news-based indices called the Infectious Disease Volatility Tracker (IDVT) and the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index (EPUI) as parts of the time series. News-based indices can potentially uncover essential proxies for economic and policy conditions, as well as portend the investment decision-making and in turn the commodity prices. The rationale behind this choice is to capture the impact from perception and news-based indices on the Malaysian palm oil prices. The empirical result from impulse–response function (IRF) shows that the shock in IDVT has a significant positive impact on Malaysian palm oil prices suggesting the MPO is exposed to the external factor. In addition, amongst the external variables tested, IDVT shows the longest lasting and highest positive impact on Malaysian palm oil prices. These results are in accordance with forecast error variance decomposition which indicates that IDVT shock can explain a huge portion of MPO prices especially over a longer period. The model specified in this study is also sufficiently stable and robust. This study contributes to the literature the significance of news-based indices and their capability in influencing public perception on the current macroeconomic condition, hence influencing the decision-making process of economic agents.

This study examines how AI-enabled risk analytics capability, digital leadership orientation, and regulatory support and clarity jointly shape bank financial performance in ASEAN-5, addressing a key gap in prior work that has typically treated technological, organizational, and regulatory enablers in isolation and rarely integrated the Technology-Organization-Environment framework with the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory in an emerging, bank-based context. Using survey data from 385 banking professionals across ASEAN-5 and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, the study models FinTech adoption as a mediating dynamic capability linking these enablers to performance. The results show that all three antecedents significantly enhance both FinTech adoption and bank financial performance, with adoption exerting the strongest direct effect and partially mediating each relationship. The study contributes by theorizing AI-enabled risk analytics and digital leadership as strategic resources whose value is amplified when embedded in supportive regulatory environments and operationalised through FinTech adoption. The findings imply that ASEAN banks can strengthen profitability and efficiency not by isolated technology investments, but by aligning AI capabilities, leadership agendas, and regulatory clarity around coherent digital adoption strategies, offering actionable insights for managers and regulators seeking to close digitalisation gaps while safeguarding performance.

Look east policy (LEP) implemented in 1982 have a purpose to gain knowledge of best practices from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan as the top rising East Asian countries for a nation-building exercise. Despite the bilateral relationship has existed between Malaysia and Japan since 1957, LEP helped nurture Malaysia’s nation-building through a handful Japanese assistance initiatives, and Malaysia has remained one of Japan’s closest counterparts in Southeast Asia in return. This research explores the impact of bilateral trade and development aid between country on Malaysia’s economic growth from 1989 to 2020. Autoregressive distribution lag model (ARDL) reveals that Malaysia’s exports to Japan is positive and significant on Malaysia’s economic growth. Meanwhile, both Malaysia’s import from Japan and Malaysia’s development aid received from Japan are positive but insignificant on Malaysia’s economic growth. It deduces that LEP implemented back 40 years ago boosts Malaysia’s export activities to increase Malaysia’s economic development.

Bitcoin is a new asset class in the global financial system where it is known as cryptocurrency or digital currency. Bitcoin has begun to gain the world’s attention as the price of Bitcoin has been rising since 2009 as its usage increases day by day. The popularity of bitcoin has made some investors see it as a safe place. But is this true for the ASEAN-5 currencies? Therefore, this research paper aims to identify whether Bitcoin can act as a hedge for currencies in the ASEAN-5 countries namely Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. This study uses daily data from December 1, 2014 until December 30, 2022. Empirical results of the study based on the GARCH (1,1) model show that Bitcoin can serve as a weak hedge for the ASEAN- 5 currencies except for Singapore where there is evidence of a strong hedge in the Lion City. This is particularly due to a unique Singapore's monetary policy tools which are based on their exchange rate unlike with other countries that mainly use interest rate as their tool.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a vital driver of economic growth, but most research only looks at total inflows, ignoring the split between equity and debt. This gap is important because equity and debt react differently to macroeconomic conditions and have different impacts on financial stability and long-term growth. This study uses a bibliometric analysis to examine research on economic growth and FDI equity–debt composition. Using Scopus data (2020–2025) with 1,110 articles, the dataset was cleaned with OpenRefine, analyzed with Scopus Analyzer, and visualized in VOSviewer. Results show a consistent rise in publications, with China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Pakistan as major contributors. Highly cited works focus on sustainability, renewable energy, and green innovation, while the equity–debt aspect remains less explored. Overall, this study maps global research trends, identifies influential contributors, and underscores the need for more in-depth analysis of FDI composition to better understand its role in fostering sustainable economic growth.

This study examines the impact of exchange rate volatility on financial market activity using a sample of 20 MENA countries from 1990Q1 to 2022Q4. An exchange rate volatility index was derived for each country based on the conditional variance estimated using ARCH/ GARCH models. The main findings using a dynamic panel threshold estimation technique revealed a threshold effect in the relationship between the exchange rate volatility and financial market activity. In oil-exporting countries, exchange rate volatility negatively effects on stock returns at lower or upper threshold levels in a different regime. in non-oil-exporting countries, the adverse effect intensifies when transitioning to the high-threshold regime, indicating greater sensitivity to exchange rate instability. Thus, policymakers in the MENA should formulate foreign exchange policy strategies that support exchange rate stability and assist financial market participants in improving risk management, expand the use of hedging instruments, and diversifying portfolios to withstand heightened volatility.Copyright© 2026 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Article’s history: Received 20th of November, 2025; Revised 22ndof December, 2025; Accepted 21st of February, 2026; Available online: 15th of March, 2026. Published as article in the Volume XXI, Special Issue, 1(91), 2026.