We may need to adjust OPR - BNM

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said the degree of monetary accommodation or the overnight policy rate (OPR) may need to be adjusted amid signs of continued build-up of economic and financial imbalances.

“This will be in the discussions of our monthly committee policy meeting and we will monitor these developments closely,” Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz told reporters after announcing Malaysia‘s economic and financial developments in the first quarter of 2014 here on Friday.

Zeti said the central bank will look at what is the optimal policy to be implemented in order to address the issue.

“We want to be anticipatory and pre-emptive rather than waiting for another imbalance,” she said.

For the first quarter, the OPR was maintained at 3.00 per cent and the monetary conditions remained supportive of economic activity.

The three-month interbank rate was higher during the quarter following the absence of trades with BNM at the three-month tenure as a result of the reduction in the maximum tenure of BNM’s Range Maturity Auction from three months to two months.

The average interbank rate for other maturities remained relatively stable while retail deposit rates were stable during the period.

The central bank also stated that the average quoted fixed deposit rates of commercial banks were relatively unchanged with stable borrowing costs and average base lending rate.