KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd announced today that it will reduce its base rate (BR), base lending rate (BLR), and base financing rate (BFR) by 50 basis points (bps) effective tomorrow.

In a statement today, Alliance Bank said its BR will be lowered from 3.32% a year to 2.82%, while its BLR and BFR will be reduced from 6.17% per annum to 5.67%.

"The revision applies to all existing loans and/or financing pegged to the BR, BLR, and BFR. To align with these changes, deposit rates will also be revised on the same effective date,” Alliance Bank said.

Alliance Bank group chief executive officer (CEO) Joel Kornreich said in the statement: "The further reduction in the overnight policy rate (OPR) offers additional relief to borrowers. Alliance Bank also provides other financing assistance, such as loan restructuring and rescheduling, to help relieve cash flow burdens of borrowers in these challenging times."

On May 5, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said in a statement that its Monetary Policy Committee had decided to reduce the OPR by 50bps to 2%. The ceiling and floor rates of the corridor of the OPR were correspondingly reduced to 2.25% and 1.75% respectively, the central bank added.

As of the time of writing today, Alliance Bank’s share price had fallen two sen or 0.98% to RM2.02, with a market capitalisation of RM3.16 billion. The stock saw 836,600 shares traded.