Increasing chance for Bank Negara to cut OPR by 25bps on July 8

Wellian Wiranto: "While the move saw initial success in curbing the pandemic spread, the case count is – yet again – showing signs of rapid uptick in recent days."

KUALA LUMPUR: The Covid-19 pandemic and tightening restrictions under the National Recovery Plan could see an increasing chance for Bank Negara Malaysia to cut the overnight policy rate by 25 basis points at its July 8 meeting.

Wellian Wiranto, economist, global treasury – research & strategy at OCBC Bank said on Friday in the previous monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, the central bank had projected a sanguine outlook because any lockdown had left business activities largely unfettered.