Bank Negara leaves OPR unchanged

Bank Negara leaves OPR unchanged
By Kevin Tan


Bank Negara's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has left the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) unchanged at 3.5% as its assessment of overall economic outlook indicated that the underlying trend had not changed since April.

Bank Negara said on May 22 that Malaysia was not insulated from inflationary forces felt globally.

“However, at this stage, limited evidence of second round effects and the lack of demand pressures imply that the monetary response can take a pause at this stage,” it said.

On April 25, it raised the OPR by 25 basis points to 3.50%, the third since November 2005.

The central bank said the Malaysian economy was expected to maintain its momentum on the basis of favourable domestic and external conditions.

"Monetary policy will continue to be vigilant to inflationary risks and would respond to any risk of inflation becoming a threat to the medium and longer-term prospects of the economy," the central bank said.

Meanwhile, Bank Negara's international reserves amounted to RM289.52 billion or equivalent to US$78.63 billion at at May 15. The reserves positions was sufficient to finance 8.2 months of retained imports and was 6.6 times the short-term external debt.

Bandar Botanic homeowners plight

Here's a website, BotanicOwner detailing how some Bandar Botanic homeowners felt they were cheated by Gamuda Berhad, which is a highly-acclaimed and respected property developer in Malaysia.

The Botanic homeowners have taken great effort to be very specific about the defects in their homes. They even compared the approved plan to the houses they received. They measured and compared and concluded that they did not get a house that was in the approved house plan. A presentation on the shortcomings and defects is presented here.

Sample pictures posted on the website:

Roof beams cost-cutting #1.


Roof beams cost-cutting #2.


Water tank cost cutting.

The website offers a good "education" on what to do and how to take action if you more than suspect that your housing developer is not delivering on its promise.

Let's not let any housing/property developer, big or small, get away with slip-shoddy work and wanton "cost-cutting" on the quality and safety of our new homes.

FKLI Heading Up?

I was looking at the chart for FKLI May. Saw the uptrend line, plus the chart is now touching the uptrend line due to the dips on the two previous days. If everything goes right, FKLI should rebound nicely this few days. As it is, the FKLI rose 1.5 pts today to 948.5 - the price I went in.

So I bought 2 May contracts near closing today. It better rise tomorrow or I may have to cut at 945 pts.

[20060518 Update]
I knew something was not right when I woke up with the dark and gloomy sky, coupled with howling winds.

The morning news on TV confirms it. There was a sharp overnight fall on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average skidding 1.88% or 214.28 points to 11,205.61.

FKLI opened at 940.5 - 941, and my cut loss was triggered. Bye-bye, hard earned cash. :(

Tabur Climb 2

Okay dengs, there will be a Bukit Tabur climb on the 2nd Saturday of this month, May. Bukit Tabur offers a picturesque view of both sides of the Klang Gates, and is a very rewarding short climb.

All dengs are invited to stretch your legs and your arms too.

Date: 10th June 2006 (Saturday)(Postphoned due to rain)
Time: 7.15 am
Meeting venue: My Place, Section 14. followed by a 30 minutes drive to Melawati.
Attire: Short & Tshirt/Singlet, hiking shoes.
Duration: 4 hours.
Additional info: No leeches.
Bring: Camera, water, snack.