KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — The ringgit extended last week’s losses to end weaker against the US dollar on Monday, following worries over the slowing global economy, said an economist.
At 6pm, the local note fell to 4.4960/4985 versus the greenback from Friday’s closing rate of 4.4765/4835.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit pierced through the 4.5000 level today, and concerns about uncertainties over the United States (US) debt limit appeared to be taking centre stage with investors remaining cautious.
“Should the lifting of the debt limit be delayed, the default risk for the US government would increase as they cannot refinance the existing borrowings and raise the extra cash to pay for their spending.
“So it is in a risk-off mode at the moment. Expect the ringgit to remain soft until the debt ceiling standoff is resolved,” he told Bernama.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It depreciated against the euro to 4.8863/8890 from 4.8839/8915 at the close on Friday and eased vis-à-vis the British pound at 5.6169/6200 versus 5.6082/6169 previously but rose against the Japanese yen to 3.3010/3031 from 3.3233/3290.
Similarly, the local note traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.
The ringgit weakened vis-à-vis the Thai baht to 13.3045/3174 from 13.1658/1922 at Friday’s close and declined versus the Indonesian rupiah to 303.6/304.0 from 303.4/304.1 last week.
It had also slid to 3.3592/3616 against the Singapore dollar compared with 3.3552/3609 last Friday but was almost flat against the Philippines’ pesos at 8.02/8.03 from 8.02/8.04.
— Bernama
