On the back of strong GDP growth, mixed views on rate hike in Malaysia

Of the 12 economists polled by StarBiz, five reckon that Bank Negara would raise the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.5% at the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Sept 18, while one believes the next rate hike could happen either next month or at the final MPC meeting for the year in November.

The other six economists believe that Bank Negara would keep the OPR at 3.25% through 2014, after having raised it by 25 bps for the first time since May 2011 last month.