KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): Hong Leong Bank Bhd expects car sales in Malaysia to rise next year as the country's goods and services tax (GST) "works its way through the system". Hong Leong Bank group managing director Domenic Fuda said today the GST, which was implemented in the country since April 1, 2015, had hurt car sales, which led to less demand for car loans. “This year (2016), we are seeing a (general) slowdown in car sales, but next year, we are hoping to see a small increase, perhaps in themid-single digits. He was speaking to reporters here today at the launch of Hong Leong Bank's online auto loan application platform, which is known as “Loan2Go”. At 3:22pm, Hong Leong Bank shares fell two sen or 0.2% to RM13.10 for a market value of RM26.86 billion.

Source: The Edge Markets November 03, 2016 08:30 UTC