KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): BMI maintained its view that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will leave the overnight policy rate (OPR) unchanged at 2.75% for the rest of 2026 amid support from resilient domestic demand. “We are aligned with the bank and expect growth to slow from an estimated 4.6% in 2025 to 4.1% in 2026, the lower end of the BNM’s forecast of 4.0%-4.5%,” BMI said. BMI noted that the central bank had minimal concerns about inflation for now, as headline inflation has largely turned out as expected, averaging 1.4% between January 2025 and November 2025. BMI said the revised forecast sits at the upper bound of the Malaysian government’s forecast of 1.3% to 2.0% but is broadly in line with its 2020-2024 average of 1.8%. “With BNM standing pat, this means that yield differentials should move in the ringgit’s favour,” BMI said.

Source: The Edge Markets January 15, 2026 03:24 UTC