The Malaysian ringgit (MYR) jumped against the US dollar at the close on September 30, reaching its highest level in 39 months on continued expectation of another cut in US interest rates after the latest inflation data there.
Malaysia’s efforts in wooing investors to bring home their returns have succeeded in propping up the MYR but the path to recovery is littered with questions of if and when the US Federal Reserve (Fed) cuts rates.
Malaysia's ringgit is expected to continue to strengthen this year, trading at 4.5 RM against the US dollar by year-end, driven by the country’s positive economic performance, Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan has said.
The ringgit should start to strengthen against the US dollar from the second quarter of next year onwards and settle at the 4.40 level in the fourth quarter of 2023, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported, citing a note released by AmBank Research.
Malaysia’s ringgit further weakened against the US dollar on October 21, closing the week at a new all-time low of 4.738 due to the absence of fresh market catalyst, analysts said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on May 25 that the Government is looking to attract more foreign investment to foster the national economy and strengthen the ringgit – the local currency.
Muhammad Ibrahim, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, said on February 7 that the continuous devaluation of ringgit forced the bank to consider more measures to stablise the currency if necessary.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Financial Markets Association of Malaysia (FMA) announced that a new methodology in the US dollar/ringgit (USD/MYR) spot fixing will be based on market transaction.
