THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 KUALA LUMPUR- Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Muhammad Ibrahim to officiate the Launch of Ombudsman Scheme at 1500 (0700 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR- Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani to deliver keynote address at SCxSC Digital Finance Conference 2016 at 0900 (0100 GMT) PUTRAJAYA- Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi attends Home Ministry Innovation Day and monthly gathering at 0845 (0045 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR- Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak launches Kuala Lumpur International Youth Discourse 2016 at 1030 (0230 GMT)
“These sort of measures tend to lead to a loss of confidence in the market, which was already jittery. However, the overall direction and movement in the dollar-ringgit has been due to the overall dollar trend in addition to BNM’s inability to resist it.”
A measure of one-month volatility for the ringgit has tumbled since mid-November when the central bank warned foreign banks not to engage in NDF-related transactions, turning the currency into emerging Asia’s least volatile, from the most. Volatility dropped to 2.5 percent last week, the lowest since December 2012.
The ringgit has fallen almost 2 percent since Nov. 15, the region’s worst performer after the yen, and reached 4.5002 per dollar on Jan. 4, the weakest since the Asian financial crisis. The currency will slide to 4.53 by mid-year, according to a Bloomberg survey. It was at 4.4370 as of 12:12 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Not everyone is pessimistic. United Overseas Bank Ltd. predicts the ringgit will strengthen to 4.35 per dollar by June 30 as it regains a positive correlation with crude oil. Oil-related products are Malaysia’s second-largest export.
“The ringgit’s previously high-beta or sensitivity to dollar moves is clearly diminished,” said Peter Chia, a currency strategist at UOB in Singapore. “Factors in favor of a firmer ringgit include our estimated fair value of 3.90 and a return of the positive correlation to firmer oil prices.”
Bank Negara blamed the “opaque” offshore NDF market for worsening the pressure on the ringgit and said the currency’s pricing should never be disconnected from real economic activities in the onshore market.
Traders remain wary even after central bank Governor Muhammad Ibrahim allowed for greater hedging flexibility in the onshore currency market in an attempt to discourage the use of NDFs.
In measures that took effect in December, Bank Negara pledged to ensure there would be “continuous liquidity of foreign currency” in the onshore market, and placed a cap on the amount of export proceeds companies can hold in foreign currency.
Malaysia’s dwindling foreign-exchange reserves mean it has less power to defend its currency. Reserves dropped to a 14-month low of $94.3 billion, according to the most recent data through Jan. 13. The country is the only one in Southeast Asia to have seen reserves decline in each of the past four years.
The ringgit is poised to end this year at 4.80 per dollar, close to the record low of 4.8850 reached in January 1998, according to Nizam Idris, head of foreign-exchange and fixed-income strategy at Macquarie Bank Ltd. in Singapore.
The NDF crackdown has done some harm for market players, he said. “While Bank Negara can say the onshore USD/MYR deliverable forward market could provide that hedge option, it is less liquid, certainly for after hours trades. The cost of hedging for foreign investors has definitely risen at the margin.” - bLOOMBERG
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