Malaysia eyes first rate hike in 3 years

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Reuters): Malaysian car mechanic Cheong Tim Soong spent years trying to curb his dependence on expensive credit card debt until a friend took decisive action - cutting up the card in front of him.
Bank Negara, the central bank, is likely to take similar, though less drastic, action by raising interest rates on July 10 for the first time in more than three years, to curb strong domestic demand that has ratcheted up debt levels and inflation.
Consumer demand has underpinned healthy growth in recent years, making up for patches of weakness in exports, but much of it has been built on an expansion of credit that has also occurred in other Southeast Asian nations because of easy loans.