KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has taken the correct monetary policy stance by supporting the government’s efforts to focus on sustainable economic growth amid price stability, DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng has said today.

Lim said its new governor Datuk Shaik Abdul Rasheed Abdul Ghaffour has brought much-needed cheer to individual and business bank borrowers with the announcement of maintaining the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3 per cent following its two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting which ended today.

"Malaysia’s road to financial stability and sustainable economic growth relies on prudent management of both fiscal and monetary policy.

"It is reassuring to note that BNM has taken a more accommodative stance in adopting the nearly unanimous consensus of 22 out of 25 economists polled by Reuters of a pause in interest rate hike that is supportive of the economy.

"Clearly there is no need for any interest rate hike when for the second half of 2023, both headline inflation which moderated to a year low of 2.8 per cent and core inflation to 3.5 per cent in May (this year) are projected to trend lower,” Lim said in a statement here.

Earlier today, BNM’s MPC had decided during its meeting to maintain the OPR at 3 per cent.

BNM said that at the current OPR level, the monetary policy stance is slightly accommodative and remains supportive of the economy and the MPC continues to see limited risks of future financial imbalances.

The central bank said in a statement that the MPC remained vigilant to ongoing developments and will continue to monitor incoming data to inform the assessment of the outlook of domestic inflation and growth.

BNM added that the global economy continues to expand, driven by resilient domestic demand supported by strong labour market conditions.

Global growth, however, remains weighed down by persistent core inflation and higher interest rates, it said.