BNM intervention to support ringgit unnecessary, says AIBC
Published on: Thursday, December 08, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: Any intervention by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to support the ringgit against the US dollar is unnecessary as the central bank has already implemented measures to enhance liquidity in the foreign exchange market, said the Asean-India Business Council (AIBC) Malaysia. Chairman Datuk Ramesh Kodammal said there should not be too much fluctuation in the ringgit at the moment, following BNM's latest measures."Looking at the present situation, the measures that Bank Negara has taken, requesting exporters to convert 75 per cent of the US dollars into the ringgit, is a good idea, at the time being, of supporting the ringgit," he told Bernama after the the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales' (ICAEW) media briefing on the latest South East Asia Economic Insight here Wednesday.
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Meanwhile, ICAEW Economic Advisor and Oxford Economics Lead Economist Priyanka Kishore said BNM's intervention to support the ringgit had been expected."Since the broader sell-off has happened, I would think that most central banks have intervened, so I would be surprised that given they (BNM) have taken such other steps very openly, that they have not intervened at all," she said.Meanwhile, Ramesh said moving forward, the ringgit is expected to remain at the current level in the short term, before bouncing back to about RM4 per US dollar in the first half of 2017.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"A lot of foreign investment is expected to come in the future, particularly due to the lower ringgit," he said. – Bernama
