‘BANK NEGARA POLICY STABILITY TO CONTINUE’
KUALA LUMPUR: Newly-appointed Bank Negara Malaysia governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus’ strong attachment with the central bank and her wide experience will help ensure policy stability and continuity, says Public Investment Bank Bhd (PublicInvest).
It views Nor Shamsiah’s appointment positively, given that she had been a long-serving employee of Bank Negara. She was one of the deputy governors during Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar’s tenure.
“With almost three decades in the public office managing the country’s monetary affairs and with a stint in the International Monetary Fund, Nor Shamsiah’s strong attachment with the central bank and her wide experience will serve well,” said the firm.
Nor Shamsiah’s previous stint with the central bank included her involvement during Malaysia’s many interfaces with challenges such as the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis, United States subprime crisis and the euro zone sovereign crisis.
PublicInvest highlighted her role in the formulation and implementation of the Financial Sector Masterplan (2001-2010) and Financial Sector Blueprint (20112020) that charted the development of the Malaysian financial system.
She led the central bank’s supervisory and risk management divisions.
PublicInvest said Malaysia was undergoing a rapid and positive transition with the new government. Any adjustment and rebalancing efforts may in one way or another impact the government’s delivery system, potentially denting the demand side of the economy (i.e private and public investment), especially when it is committed to reducing wastages and cutting costs.
“We believe the central bank will not hesitate to step in to provide support to the economy through its various monetary tools,” it added.
PublicInvest said Nor Shamsiah’s immediate task will be the fourth Monetary Policy Meeting, scheduled on July 11.
The meeting would be closely watched as the central bank will assess the impact of the brewing US-China trade war.
“The secondary impact should be real as well, especially when it can disrupt the supply and revenue chain due to our close trade integration with China and US,” it added.