News about BNM

Malaysia’s economy may expand 4%-5% this year, according to government forecast, following a weaker-than-expected 3.

A Bloomberg poll showed that all 24 economists it surveyed are expecting BNM to keep the OPR unchanged at 3% following March's milder-than-expected inflation data — up 1.

Bank Negara Malaysia resisted pressures to raise the overnight policy rate last November, and “we expect the same this week”, HSBC said.

A vast majority of Malaysian households, about 7 million of them (88.

MIDF Research said from a medium-term perspective, policy rate normalisation is needed to avert risks that could destabilise the future economic outlook such as persistently high inflation and a further rise in household indebtedness.

This is the fourth time that the MPC has decided to maintain the OPR at 3% since July 2023.

“The real danger is when borrowers are already struggling to service the monthly loan instalment before the OPR increase, they will definitely find it very difficult to pay for even the slightest increase in loan instalments.

In its recent OPR announcement, BNM highlighted that Malaysia’s GDP measure for 2023 indicates an improvement in the nation’s economic activity.

This is despite calls from some quarters for the central bank to raise the key interest rate to help stabilise the ringgit, which is near a 25-year low against the US dollar.

The last time Bank Negara Malaysia raised the OPR was in May, instituting a 25 bps hike to 3%, from 2.