Malaysian central bank keeps key policy rate unchanged

Malaysia's central bank decided on Thursday to maintain its key policy rate at 3.00 percent, while warning against risks arising from protectionism, geopolitical development and volatile commodity prices.

The central bank said its Monetary Policy Committee meeting had decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.00 percent.

"At the current level of the OPR, the degree of monetary accommodativeness is consistent with the policy stance to ensure that the domestic economy continues on a steady growth path amid a stable core inflation, supported by sustained financial intermediation in the economy," the central bank said in a statement.

It said the Malaysian economy remains on track to expand as projected, supported by private consumption, investment activity and expected improvement in exports.

It also warned that "heightened uncertainty and downside risks to global growth remain, arising from risks of protectionism, geopolitical developments and commodity price volatility."

"These risks could also lead to episodes of increased financial market volatility," it said.

The central bank said it would continue to provide liquidity to ensure the orderly functioning of the financial markets.

"Banking system liquidity remains ample. Financial institutions continue to operate with strong capital and liquidity buffers and the growth of financing to the private sector is consistent with the pace of economic activity," it added. Endit