KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has dismissed the inaccurate ringgit exchange rate data circulating on social media based on an erroneous USD/RM exchange rate published by Google yesterday.
“This is inaccurate information which does not reflect the actual trading,” it said in a statement today.
Yesterday, the ringgit was quoted at 4.7015 against the US dollar at 9am. and 4.7045 at 5pm, with an intraday high of 4.7075 in the onshore interbank market for ringgit, as published on the BNM website.
In the past two weeks (March 1 to March 15), the ringgit has strengthened 0.76 per cent against the US dollar.
BNM said this was the second instance in which Google published inaccurate US$/RM exchange rate data for this year.
The central bank had earlier issued a stern warning letter to Google when the first misreporting occurred on February 6.
“As this is the second instance of misreporting, BNM will be engaging Google for an explanation of how the inaccurate reporting occurred and the corrective measures taken, given that this is a recurring issue that has afflicted Malaysia and other countries in the past few months,” it said.
BNM advised members of the public to rely on official data, including from the central bank.
The public should also exercise caution against using, circulating or speculating on unverifiable sources as a reference for the ringgit.
“The exchange rate is market-sensitive data, and any inaccurate reporting and circulation of unverified data can have serious implications for the financial markets,” it said.
The ringgit ended the week easier against the US dollar, alongside regional currencies, as the US producer price index data came in higher than expected.
At 6pm Friday, the ringgit slid to 4.7050/7095 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.6845/6878.
— Bernama
