Annuar Musa: Jihad Against Inflation Special Task Force Has No Power To Stop OPR Hike

Special Task Force on Jihad against Inflation chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa has iterated that the committee is not only focusing on the overnight policy rate (OPR) but also paying attention to the price of basic necessities in Malaysia. Moreover, Annuar, who is also the Minister of Communications and Multimedia stressed that the task force has no power to interfere with our country’s OPR as it is set by the Malaysian central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

As reported by national news agency Bernama, Annuar was responding to criticism by former Finance Minister and DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng who called for the special task force to be dissolved. In a statement yesterday, Lim labelled the task force “ineffective, incompetent and irrelevant” following the increase in OPR for the third time in a row this year.

Referring to Lim’s statement, Annuar said that calling for the Jihad against Inflation Special Task Force to be dissolved following the increae in OPR was something far from the real facts. The task force chairman asserted,

“This OPR cannot be interfered with by any committee like the one created to deal with inflation… No political interference in making decisions, there is legal control, the whole world uses the same standards,”

On Thursday (8 September 2022), BNM announced the increase of OPR by 25 basis points to 2.50 per cent at its fifth Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in Kuala Lumpur. The central bank also announced that the ceiling and floor rates of the corridor of the OPR have also correspondingly increased to 2.75 per cent and 2.25 per cent respectively.

So, what do you guys think of the while situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: PM: Jihad Against Inflation Special Task Force Has Succeeded In Controlling Price Hike