Risk of asset price inflation low in Malaysia

Manageable level: Prices of residential property moderated sharply for eight consecutive years from 13.1% year-on-year in 2012 to 2.2% in 2019 and slid further to 0.6% in 2020.

PETALING JAYA: Asset price inflation, which is posing a threat in some Western economies, is unlikely to rear its ugly head in Malaysia amid the country’s low interest rates and massive stimulus packages.

Even as the central bank has kept key benchmark interest rate at 1.75% for some time, coupled with a cumulative fiscal stimulus of RM380bil since last year, economists agree that asset-price inflation risk is lower, thanks to the preemptive macro-prudential measures and responsible bank lending practices introduced in late 2010, following the 2008-2009 US subprime crisis.