Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) today published the second semi-annual policy statement for the year 2025.

In its Policy Statement 2/2025, BDCB reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised upwards their global growth forecasts to 3.2% for 2025 and 3.1% for 2026 from earlier estimates of 2.8% and 3.0%, respectively. Meanwhile, Brunei Darussalam reported a 0.7% year-on-year contraction in the first three quarters of the year. The Oil and Gas sector grew by 0.6% on the back of stabilising oil and gas production. The Non-Oil and Gas sector, however, declined by 1.9%, largely due to declined performance in several subsectors, including the Manufacture of Petroleum and Chemical Products subsector and Finance subsector. Despite this, the growth outlook is expected to moderate to a sustainable pace in 2025 as both upstream and downstream oil and gas production stabilise towards the end of the year. Developments in key foreign direct investment projects, in addition to the implementation of strategic projects under the 12th National Development Plan (RKN12) are further expected to bolster growth.

In line with the downward trend in global inflation, Brunei Darussalam recorded an average inflation rate of -0.3% year-on-year between January to November 2025. Inflationary pressures are expected to remain relatively contained with government subsidies, administrative price controls and the country’s monetary policy in place. The effects of imported inflation on domestic prices have been minimised by the Brunei Dollar’s parity with the Singapore Dollar, supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore easing its monetary policy twice earlier this year. Taking these factors and available Consumer Price Index data into consideration, BDCB forecasts inflation for Brunei Darussalam for 2025 to fall within the range of -0.6% to 0.4% for 2025.  

As of Q3 2025, total assets of the domestic financial sector grew by 5.5% with a total asset size of BND25.6 billion, of which BND14.8 billion was held by the Islamic finance sector while the conventional sector held BND10.9 billion. Deposit-taking institutions made up 91.5% of the sector with an asset base of BND23.5 billion. Despite a slight moderation in profitability, earnings in the banking industry remained robust on the back of steady credit growth and strong capital positions, where aggregate Capital Adequacy Ratio stood at 18.7% in Q3 2025. 

There were other several notable developments in the second half of 2025. On 25 November 2025, BDCB officially launched the Brunei Darussalam Sustainable Finance Roadmap (SFR), themed “A Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Financial Sector”. The SFR serves as a strategic guide for the financial sector in adopting and integrating sustainable finance, encompassing climate adaptation and mitigation measures. On developing the Islamic financial sector, Brunei Darussalam ranked 13th out of 140 countries in the Islamic Finance Development Report (IFDI) 2025: 50 Years of Exponential Growth, with greatest improvement seen in the Awareness indicator. BDCB is also developing the Digital Payment Roadmap 2026-2030 to ensure that digital payments in Brunei Darussalam are convenient, secure, and aligned with consumer needs.

The full version of BDCB Policy Statement 2/2025 can be found on BDCB’s website at www.bdcb.gov.bn. For further information and enquiries, members of the public may contact BDCB at 8318388, or email info@bdcb.gov.bn.

BDCB Policy Statement 2/2025

BDCB Policy Statement 2/2025 (MY)