At its meeting today, Bank Negara Malaysia's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to leave the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) unchanged at 3.50 percent.

The assessment of overall economic outlook indicates that the underlying trend has not changed since the monetary policy statement in April. The Malaysian economy is expected to maintain its momentum on the basis of favourable domestic and external conditions.

Malaysia is not insulated from the inflationary forces being felt globally. However, at this stage, limited evidence of second round effects and lack of indications of demand-induced inflationary pressures imply that the monetary policy response can take a pause.

Monetary policy will continue to be vigilant to inflationary risks and would respond to any risk of inflation becoming a threat to the medium and longer-term prospects of the economy. The course of monetary policy in the coming months would be determined by the Bank’s assessment of the implications of new developments and information for the medium term prospects for price stability and sustainable economic growth.