OPR hike will not dampen loan growth, research houses say

The earlier-than-anticipated 25-basis-point (bps) increase in the overnight policy rate (OPR) to 2.0 percent was viewed by research firms as having no impact on banks’ loan growth, though short-term volatility is anticipated.

MIDF Research has maintained its positive call on the banking sector as banking dividends and earnings are set to benefit from the net interest margin (NIM) increase.

“We are not expecting any notable decline in loan growth in the immediate future, given still-robust leading indicators (loan application growth in March...