A general view of the headquarters of Malaysia's central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. (Reuters file photo)Malaysia’s central bank provided policy stability by keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday after a surprise election victory by opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad. Bank Negara Malaysia left the overnight policy rate at 3.25%, it said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, as predicted by all 18 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Bank Negara was one of the first central banks in Asia to raise rates this year with a hike in January, allowing it to hold off any further tightening just yet. While price pressures are expected to remain moderate this year, “the trajectory of headline inflation will be dependent on future global oil prices which remain highly uncertain,” the central bank said.

Source: Bangkok Post May 10, 2018 07:41 UTC