KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to leave the overnight policy rate (OPR) unchanged would maintain stable conditions for the housing market as consumers are accustomed to the current level of interest rates and still willing to borrow for mortgages.

Juwai IQI co-founder and group chief executive officer Kashif Ansari said household loans for this and other purposes increased by six per cent in January, demonstrating that consumers were comfortable with their financial position and future prospects.

"Our market survey indicates residential prices and rents could climb by nearly 10 per cent in 2024. The most popular price range this year is affordable homes worth up to RM500,000,” he said in a statement today.

He noted that the decision to maintain the interest rate was a decision that could have gone either way in a difficult monetary environment.

He also said BNM left rates unchanged to balance the desire to stimulate economic growth with the fear of causing worse inflation.

Kashif said Juwai IQI expected BNM to keep the overnight policy rate unchanged at three per cent until at least 2025.

"Inflation is a big concern for BNM and the bank was one of the first central banks in the world to begin raising rates in the current cycle and have done a convincing job of pushing inflation back down to its current level," he said.

He expected Malaysia's economy to bounce back this year on the strength of both domestic and external demand.

"We believe growth in China will pick up as the government’s stimulus measures begin to have an impact and that will contribute to stronger global demand for Malaysian exports," he said.

BNM’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.00 per cent and said the monetary policy stance remains supportive of the economy and is consistent with the current assessment of the inflation as well as growth prospects. — Bernama