KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on mild buying support for the domestic unit amid stronger second-quarter economic growth announced last Friday.
At 9.06am, the ringgit stood at 4.1750/1780 against the greenback from 4.1760/1810 recorded at last Friday’s close.
Malaysia’s economy grew by 4.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2019 from 4.5 per cent in the first quarter on the back of higher household spending and private investment.
AllianceDBS Research said it is confident that new proposed fiscal reforms in the upcoming Budget 2020 by the new government, planned targeted fuel subsidy and short-term boosts from approved mega projects would likely lead to favourable domestic demand conditions.
“This will support Malaysia’s private consumption and investment growth in the near term,” it said in a note today, adding that it expects only one potential interest rate cut to take place by end-2019 if economic conditions do not deteriorate significantly in the upcoming quarters.
Against the yen, the local note fell to 3.9242/9278 from last Friday’s 3.9230/9288 while vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar it went down to 3.0116/0149 from 3.0097/0140.
The ringgit strengthened against the British pound to 5.0689/0729 from 5.0763/0828 but declined against the euro to 4.6297/6347 from 4.6283/6346. — Bernama
