KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — The ringgit ended almost flat against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed by weaker oil prices despite Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.0 per cent, an analyst said.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.6755/6795 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.6720/6765.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said while BNM’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision today to maintain the OPR had been mostly anticipated by economists, the change in tone was rather clear that they had shifted to the side of dovishness.
BNM no longer views that there is excess policy accommodation but rather that the stance of the monetary policy has been appropriately aligned with the current state of inflation and growth.
“Therefore, the local currency shall remain quite low for now as the US Federal Reserve is likely to maintain its restrictive.
“Perhaps we shall get more information once the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets up from September 19 to September 20 as they also will share their latest economic projection,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Brent crude fell 0.61 per cent per cent to US$90.12 per barrel.
At the close, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It increased against the euro to 5.0093/0136 from Wednesday’s close of 5.0145/0193, rose against the British pound to 5.8289/8339 from 5.8657/8713, but slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.1707/1736 from 3.1694/1727 previously.
At the same time, the local note also traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.4270/4305 from 3.4308/4343 at yesterday’s close and went up versus the Thai baht to 13.1301/1469 from 13.1532/1710 yesterday.
The local currency was almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah to 305.0/305.4 from 305.5/305.8 and was slightly lower against the Philippines’ peso at 8.23/8.24 from 8.20/8.21 previously.
— Bernama
