Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the ringgit to linger around RM4.44 against the US dollar today. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, April 19, 2023.
THE ringgit rose against the US dollar in the early session today as the United States Federal Reserve officials continued their hawkish stance, favouring another 25 to 75 basis points interest rate hike in the near term. At 9.03am, the local note was pegged at 4.4275/4320 versus the greenback from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4315/4360.
However, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the ringgit to stay soft as the US dollar/ringgit pair was already in the overbought position from the technical perspective.“China’s higher-than-expected gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2023 at 4.5% reported yesterday suggests that the Malaysian economy would benefit from it via trade and investment, so this should be positive for the ringgit in the medium term,” he told Bernama.
However, it eased to 7.90/7.91 against the Philippines’ peso from yesterday’s close of 7.89/7.90 and depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.9285/9477 from 12.9228/9416 previously. – Bernama, April 19, 2023.