KINIGUIDE | Every few months, banks, financial research houses and business publications will speculate about the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR), and this is followed by Bank Negara Malaysia's statement of any changes to the rate.

On Wednesday, July 6, Bank Negara announced that the OPR would increase 25 basis points to 2.25 percent, a second rate hike following an earlier increase on May 11.

Following the economic downturn resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia’s OPR was at a historic low of 1.75 percent.

OPR may seem like an arcane term to many but a change of a few percentage points will directly affect you.

Malaysiakini examines the OPR and how it might affect the wallet and bank accounts of the average person on the street.

What is OPR?

The OPR represents the minimum interest rate charged amongst...