Malaysia's central bank, expressing optimism the country will stay on a steady growth path through 2017, kept its key interest rate at 3.00 percent on Wednesday, as expected. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said there is sufficient activity to support the economy, even as annual growth slipped to 4 percent in the second quarter, the slowest in nearly seven years.
"Overall, the economy is projected to expand within expectations in 2016, and to remain on a steady growth path in 2017," the central bank said in a statement. Eleven of 12 economists in a Reuters poll had forecast no change to the overnight policy rate (OPR). On July 13, BNM surprised economists with the first rate cut in seven years, by 25 basis points.