KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — The ringgit surged to end higher against the US dollar on Friday, boosted by positive sentiments following the tabling of Budget 2022 today, an analyst said.
At 6 pm, the local note appreciated to 4.1390/1415 versus the greenback from 4.1485/1520 at yesterday’s close.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz announced the RM332.1 billion Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today — the largest ever for the country, surpassing Budget 2021’s allocation of RM322.54 billion.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market players were closely monitoring the tabling of Budget 2022 that will determine the post-pandemic economic recovery.
“The expansionary fiscal policies shows that the government will continue to ensure that the recovery process is carried out in a more sustainable manner, so the ringgit is expected to remain on a positive note at the moment,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Ambank Research noted that the US dollar index fell following the release of a weaker-than-expected United States (US) economic report for the third quarter of 2021 (Q3 2021).
“The preliminary report showed that the US economy grew by 4.6 per cent in Q3 2021 on a non-seasonally adjusted year-on-year basis, down from 12.5 per cent in Q2 2021,” it said.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.0762/0783 from 3.0778/0808 at Thursday’s close, and rose against the Japanese yen to 3.6403/6425 from 3.6493/6527.
However, the local note slipped versus the euro to 4.8232/8261 from 4.8094/8134 yesterday, and eased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7089/7124 from 5.7075/7123 previously.
— BERNAMA
