The Malaysian Ringgit is seeing an alarming trend recently, whereby our country has been continuously depreciating against the United States Dollar (USD) as well as Singapore Dollar (SGD), the national currency of our neighbour south of the border. In fact, on Friday (14 October 2022) morning, the Ringgit slumped to its worst ever performance against SGD, hitting SGD1 to RM3.30.
In August, the Ringgit has already recorded at that time, a new low of SGD1 to RM3.23 and the further depreciation recorded yesterday is definitely something worrying for Malaysians. However, the unfavourable exchange rate (well, for Malaysians at least) may have something to do with the move by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to tighten monetary policy for the fifth time in 2022 which helped to dampen inflation in the nation.
A screenshot of the SGD to Ringgit exchange rate on 14 October 2022.
As reported by CNA, MAS in its half-yearly monetary policy statement asserted that it will re-centre the mid-point of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band “up to its prevailing level”. This move essentially allowed the Singapore dollar to appreciate and in turn, makes imports cheaper as well as help to put a lid on the rise in prices of goods and services in Singapore.
So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: 1MDB Debt To Cost M’sia An Additional RM7.7 BILLION Due To Ringgit’s Depreciation Against USD
