(Bandar Seri Begawan, 31st) Brunei Central Bank (BDCB) released its second semi-annual policy statement for 2024 yesterday.
In its 2/2024 policy statement, the Brunei Central Bank noted that the International Monetary Fund predicts global growth rates will remain at 3.2% for 2024 and 2025.
Meanwhile, the domestic economy grew by 6.4% in the first half of 2024, mainly driven by the expansion of the oil and gas sector and the non-oil and gas sector, which grew by 8.3% and 4.8% respectively.
Looking ahead, it is expected that the domestic economic growth momentum will continue into 2024, thanks to positive developments in the oil and gas and non-oil and gas sectors, as well as foreign direct investment projects. However, downside risks remain which may arise from falling commodity prices and weakened demand from major trading partners.
The global deflationary trend has led to deflation in the domestic market for most of 2024. Other influencing factors include subsidies, administrative price controls, and national monetary policy.
Due to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's decision to maintain its latest monetary policy stance in October 2024, the parity between the Brunei dollar and the Singapore dollar has minimized imported inflation.
Considering these factors and available consumer price index data, Brunei Central Bank has revised its inflation forecast for 2024 to a range of -0.7% to 0.3%.
The Brunei Central Bank noted that in the third quarter of 2024, total assets in the financial sector grew by 4.1% to BND 24.3 billion, of which BND 14.3 billion (58.7%) was held by the Islamic finance sector. Depository institutions accounted for 91.5% of total financial sector assets, with an asset base of BND 22.2 billion. As of the third quarter of 2024, the banking sector remained resilient, with a total capital adequacy ratio of 21.7%. However, the banking sector's profitability slightly declined during the same quarter.
In fulfilling the Brunei Central Bank's commitment to fostering a vibrant digital economy and supporting its establishment, the bank has released a revised version of the Remittance Licensing Standards.
Furthermore, to promote capital market development, the Brunei Central Bank has issued the Brunei Investment Data Supplier Survey Report Guidelines to licensed capital market intermediaries in Brunei.
The full version of the Brunei Central Bank Policy Statement 2/2024 can be accessed on the Brunei Central Bank website www.bdcb.gov.bn.
For more information and inquiries, the public can contact the Brunei Central Bank at 8318388 or email info@bdcb.gov.bn.