KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit has weakened against only four foreign currencies despite the fallout from the war in Iran, Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong said.
“What I want to stress here is that the ringgit has only compared against four major currencies - the United States dollar, the Chinese yuan, the Singapore dollar and the Taiwan dollar.
“There is a slight depreciation, but compared to other currencies, the ringgit is still in a comfortable position,” said Liew during Question Time in Parliament on Wednesday (June 24).
Liew was responding to a supplementary question by Aminolhuda Hassan of Pakatan Harapan-Sri Gading in Parliament.
Liew said the ringgit started the year with a strong performance, as it saw an increase of 4.3% in its value compared to the US dollar.
It also saw a 3.2% increase for the nominal effective exchange rate (NEER).
“But, the Middle East conflict at the end of February had has affected the financial markets and international currencies, including Malaysia,” he said.
From the beginning of the year till June 22, Liew said the ringgit has depreciated 2.1% against the US dollar, while NEER recorded a reduction of 1.6%.
“The movement of ringgit will always be influenced by external factors, including developments in the Middle East conflict and expectations on the US Federal Reserve interest rates,” he said.
Liew said the value of the ringgit will be determined by the markets.
“The main focus is to ensure that the ringgit is traded in an orderly manner and Bank Negara will continue to monitor the domestic foreign exchange market and stand ready to take appropriate action should there be any irregular currency movements,” he added.
Liew was responding to Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman, an Independent Member of Parliament for Labuan, who asked about the main factors contributing to the strength of the ringgit.
In January this year, the ringgit rallied to a high, touching RM3.917 against the US dollar.
However, the ringgit has eased against the US dollar after the Iran conflict on Feb 28.
On Wednesday (June 24) morning, the ringgit weakened to 4.145/1505 against the greenback from 4.1380/1430.
It also depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.203/2085 on June 24 morning from 3.1959/2000 at the close on Tuesday.
