Malaysia: BNM hikes rates again – UOB

Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting at UOB Group review the latest interest rate decision by the BNM.

Key Takeaways

“As widely expected, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) raised the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) today (8 Sep) by 25bps to 2.50%. This marks the third back-to-back rate hike since BNM started the hiking cycle in May this year as the economy recovered at a stronger pace. To date, BNM has hiked 75bps, which partly reversed the 125bps of rate cuts since the start of the pandemic in Jan 2020.”

“In the latest monetary policy statement (MPS), BNM continues to expect the domestic economy to expand, supported by private sector spending amid the transition to endemicity, positive labour market conditions, resumption of tourism activities and investments. However, BNM cautioned that external demand is expected to moderate amid softer global growth. BNM expects inflation to peak in 3Q22 before moderating thereafter amid abating base effects and easing global commodity prices.”

“BNM highlighted that there is no ‘pre-set course’ and the monetary policy committee (MPC) will continue to assess developments and their impact on domestic inflation and growth. BNM also reiterated that any adjustments will be done in a ‘measured and gradual’ manner. We think BNM may have signalled a temporary pause for rate hikes pending forward-looking growth and inflation dynamics. As such, we maintain our OPR target at 2.50% by year-end, and 3.00% by mid-2023. The next and final monetary policy meeting for the year is on 2-3 Nov.”