Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
NEW! Get Actionable Insights with InvestingPro+ Try 7 Days Free
Malaysia's central bank seen holding rates to assess economic risks: Reuters poll
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's central bank will likely hold its benchmark interest rate steady at a policy review on Tuesday, to assess the effects of a rate cut in May and give itself room for more easing if economic growth falters later this year, a Reuters poll found.
All 11 economists surveyed expect Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to keep its overnight policy rate unchanged at 3.00%, even as the country's export growth lost momentum and inflation remained benign in the first five months of the year.
In May, Malaysia's central bank became the first in Southeast Asia to cut interest rates this year as it moved to bolster its economy on concerns about slowing global growth and the impact from the Sino-U.S. trade war.
The cut was Malaysia's first since July 2016, and reflected changes in global interest rates and the increasingly dovish stance of many central banks over the first half of the year.
"The central bank will likely wait a little longer before penciling in one more rate cut," HSBC said in a research note on Friday.
"We expect BNM to ease in 4Q19 when domestic demand will start slowing."
Malaysia's exports in May rose 2.5% from a year earlier, slower than expected, on a decline in shipments of manufactured goods to major trade partner China.
Annual inflation in May remained unchanged at 0.2% for the third month in a row. Inflation has been mild since an unpopular consumption tax was scrapped in June 2018, while transport costs have declined after the government put a cap on domestic fuel prices.
BNM will likely take a more "reactive" stance on its key rate, with an eye on whether the U.S. Federal Reserve decides to cut interest rates later this year, said Irvin Seah, senior economist at DBS in Singapore.
Expectations the Fed could cut rates at its July 30-31 meeting are rising, and some investors are betting it could cut by as much as 100 basis points in the coming year.
Seah said Malaysia's central bank still needs to wait for the effects of its May cut to kick in before it can decide on another rate change.
"If they see a need to have a more aggressive rate cut, they should have done a one-shot 50 point cut earlier on," Seah said.
Related Articles
Mexico annual inflation rate steady at 8.7% in September
By Reuters - Oct 07, 2022
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's inflation steadied at 8.7% in the 12 months through September, official data showed on Friday, halting an upward trend that had pushed consumer...
Swiss National Bank won't tolerate above-target inflation -Jordan
By Reuters - Oct 07, 2022
ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) will not accept Swiss inflation above its target of 0-2%, Chairman Thomas Jordan said, adding that tolerating a steeper rate of...
India's RBI to soon commence pilot project of digital rupee
By Reuters - Oct 07, 2022
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India will soon commence limited pilot launches of a central bank backed digital rupee for specific use cases, it said in a concept paper...
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.