KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 ― Local investment banks expect Bank Negara Malaysia to raise the overnight policy rate by at least 25 basis points by year-end, tracking the United States Federal Reserve's 75 bps rate hike yesterday.
It said the Fed's aggressive posturing and obsession with taming inflation indicate that it would continue to raise interest rates sharply, at the expense of growth. “Along with the expectation that gross domestic product growth would continue to be driven by the stronger recovery in domestic demand, we expect BNM to maintain its hawkish tilt and raise the OPR by at least 25 bps each at its remaining two MPC meetings for this year,” said Kenanga.