KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 6): Bank Negara Malaysia is expected to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3% this Thursday (Nov 9) on “robust economic growth and well-behaved inflation”, according to DBS Bank Ltd.
Today, DBS economist Irvin Seah wrote in a note that DBS’ OPR forecast is based on Malaysia’s gross domestic product growth at 5.7% in the first half of 2017 and year-to-date average inflation at 4%.
“Robust economic growth and well-behaved inflation make for a stable monetary policy stance.
“Going forward, we expect the central bank to raise rates by 50bps in 2018, as buoyant economic growth, stimulant effects from the expansionary fiscal policy, a pre-election spike in consumption and a build-up in domestic inflationary pressure, could prompt a shift towards monetary tightening,” Seah said.
Source : www.theedgemarkets.com