Are fears of ringgit weakness exaggerated?

Government and corporate bonds with a total value of $17 billion at the end of 2018 would be affected, according to a Reuters calculation based on fund data. These are issued by Chile ($362 million), the Czech Republic ($50 million), Hungary ($63 million), Israel ($117 million), Malaysia ($1.9 billion), Mexico ($5.7 billion), Poland ($1.05 billion), Russia ($1.2 billion), South Korea ($6.3 billion) and Thailand ($241 million), the ministry said in a statement listing the countries, with the amounts taken from fund data.

THE first-year anniversary of Pakatan Harapan comes with a shift in the outlook of the ringgit compared to a year ago.

A cause for concern is foreign investors reducing their holdings in ringgit-denominated debt papers that could result in a potential outflow of up to US$11bil from the Malaysian bond market.