Malaysia: BNM seen ‘on hold’ this week – UOB

Victor Yong, Interest Rate Strategist at UOB Group, expects the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to leave the policy rate unchanged at the March 3 meeting.

Key Quotes

“Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) meets on 03 March and market pricing is for the central bank to ease monetary policy.”

“Analysts’ consensus is evenly split (13:9) between a 25bps cut to the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) and rates on hold scenario.”

“Our view is for BNM to hold OPR unchanged at 2.75% for now, though downside risks has intensified with the spread of COVID-19 outside of mainland China.”