KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — The ringgit ended marginally higher against the US dollar today after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) increased the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2.50 per cent at its fifth Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today.
At 6.01pm, the local currency rose to 4.5010/5040 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.5020/5040.
Putra Business School economics analyst Assoc-Prof Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff told Bernama he expected the ringgit’s weakness to continue despite the OPR hike.
“The ringgit will likely continue to weaken due to the declining oil prices including that of crude palm oil, which makes a sizeable contribution to the Malaysian economy.
“Also the uncertainties surrounding the United States (US) economy on its inflation rate, unemployment as well as the US Federal Reserves’ tone on interest rate hike continues to persist,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit decreased against the Singapore dollar to 3.2015/2041 from yesterday’s close of 3.1990/2009, weakened against the British pound at 5.1730/1764 from 5.1723/1746, eased against the euro to 4.4996/5026 from 4.4615/4635 and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1285/1308 from 3.1238/1254 yesterday. — Bernama
