Borrowing costs remain at 3.25%

Today (28th Jan 2015), Bank Negara Malaysia has announced that it will maintain the borrowing costs at 3.25%; unchanged. This was widely expected even though an adjustment upwards would have lent some support to the weakened Ringgit. It said that the current monetary policy i accommodative and appropriate given the current financial and monetary conditions. In fact despite that volatility in the international financial markets, there’s a lot of liquidity in the domestic financial system. In brief, healthy lending environment thus far. Oh yeah, please read about all other currencies and not just Ringgit and you would understand the world instead of thinking Ringgit is the only currency fluctuating or depreciating.
Bank Negara also said that currently, the prospects for Malaysian economy is on a steady growth path. Reminder, ‘STEADY GROWTH PATH’. Please stop painting a ‘crisis’ picture because there are no numbers pointing otherwise and even international rating agencies still rate Malaysia under the investment grade and is in fact higher than some other ‘nearby’ countries that people are so proud about. Some of these countries are already rated below investment grade for some time. No one (country) is expected to go into crisis but comparison wise, Malaysia remain stronger than the rest. In fact the current capital outflow for past 6 months, if it had happened in 1998 meant that Malaysia would have gone bankrupt. Yet, today it is just another piece of news. Is it on a negative outlook then? Your guess is as good as mine. My personal answer? No.
One piece of good news but has not really trickled down to the consumers would be that the inflation rate is expected to be lower than anticipated mainly due to the lower energy and commodity prices. If you recall, there would be no electricity tariff adjustment this year. With the much lower petrol prices, it also meant that the drivers have more savings and thus money to spend. It’s pretty significant. As an example, 35 cents savings per litre meant if you used to drive 2,000km per month, you have just saved RM70. I think the retail sales market may be better than expected even though the current expectations would be that it would be slowing down. Yes, my personal opinion is that it is still safe to buy properties provided you are either buying for own stay or buying a secondary undervalued property for which rental can cover your mortgage. Look around, these are still available. Happy searching.
written on 28 January 2015
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