Challenging 2017 but a better global environment - BNM Governor

"The only certainty (for the world economy now) is more uncertainty in 2017," said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim who amazed many with his witty humour for someone who is known to be serious and a no-nonsense type.

He was speaking at the Senior Editors' briefing on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the central bank's 2016 Annual Report on Thursday, his first such briefing after helming BNM for almost a year.

Last year has been a tumultuous year and a real test for the new Governor but the measures and policies the central bank laid have helped stabilise the financial sector and economy in general.

The Governor had been well-prepared for the briefing, touching on a wide-range of subjects, from economy to finances, migrant workers and even voicing concerns over the future of youths in terms of housing affordability and employability.

Of significance was the measures to address liquidity issues in the foreign exchange (forex) market which were put in place on Dec 2, 2016, one of which was for exporters to convert 75 per cent of their export proceeds into ringgit.

He said the announced measures to realign demand for the ringgit have shown strong encouraging results.

The conversion of the export proceeds amounted to US$2 billion (US$1 = RM4.43) up to February 2017, from US$500 million in 2016 and US$8.4 billion in 2015.

He said the major non-resident participants in the market have done the rebalancing of their portfolios and hence, he did not expect a big outflow.

As to whether there is going to be more measures, he said, the December measures are sufficient but BNM would need a few more to deepen the forex market and for financial market development.

Muhammad said 2017 would see a better global environment, though prospects remain challenging as the global growth was not expanding as great as it did before.

The outlook for Malaysia too is challenging with gross domestic product growth forecast of between 4.3 and 4.8 per cent in 2017 from 4.2 per cent in 2016 but global demand would support growth, he said.

In terms of inflation, while it is expected to be higher by between 3-4 per cent this year compared with 2.1 per cent in 2016, he does not expect a more significant spillover as it is cost-driven and that domestic demand is expected to be stable this year.

During the briefing, Muhammad also touched on the subject of affordability among the youths especially in terms of housing.

"The immediate problem is not about the access to financing rather (its) raising household income level. Also it is about high prices of houses and we see the need to rebalance the supply of housing with more affordable segments," he pointed out.

In doing its own simulation, BNM gathered that the affordable housing price for those earning RM3,000 and below, was about RM176,000, those earning RM5,000 and below could afford a maximum RM283,000 in house price while those earning RM10,000 and below could buy a house up to RM515,000.

It was concluded that almost three quarters of the supply of houses in the market were not affordable.

As for the usage of credit cards whose risk is the unsecured probability of default due to the higher rates, he said, banks were told to be transparent when issuing them to customers.

At the briefing, a question was posed on the fraud and theft committed by bank employees themselves and to this, he said, the requirement was to report to the police.

He said the central bank would view it seriously if the banks did not make a report on the wrongdoings by its employees.

As for the probe into BNM forex losses in the early 90s, he said, the central bank would not be distracted by its core business and would render full cooperation when asked to.

A Special Task Force has been set up to carry out preliminary investigations into the losses. -- Bernama