Brunei's economy grew by 3.6 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) said yesterday in its half yearly policy statement.

This is due to the growth in the oil and gas sector by 7.6 per cent, the central bank said in its Policy Statement 1/2016.

However, the non-oil and gas sector declined by 1.9 per cent, it added, while noting that the global economy experienced renewed volatility in the first few months of 2016.

Domestic inflation is expected to remain subdued due to low food and commodity prices as well as the stable Brunei dollar's exchange rate.

AMBD also highlighted several financial developments in the country, including the issuance of a directive on the use of Minimum Cash Balances (MCB) for Intraday Liquidity Maintenance in the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System; establishment of a branch of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited in Brunei Darussalam; and the winding down of operations of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited's Brunei branch in phases.

Credit growth was positive for the first quarter, expanding 8.5 per cent year-on-year. The overall banking sector remained sound, posting a high capital adequacy ratio above the minimum requirements.

AMBD also undertook several initiatives under the 'Ease of Doing Business' initiative including becoming a signatory of the multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning consultation and cooperation, and the exchange of information, adopted by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions.

In addition, AMBD said that it is currently conducting Syariah audits on local Islamic financial institutions.

In terms of future developments, AMBD said "that it will enhance efforts to stimulate financial intermediation and lending to the business sector by supporting structural reforms. AMBD has also committed to implement a Basel II capital adequacy framework by 2017.

The full version of the policy statement can be found on AMBD's website, www.ambd.gov.bn.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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