Ringgit Ends Lower Against US Dollar As Fed Holds Interest Rate Steady
By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad
KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- The ringgit reversed its gains in the morning to end lower against the greenback on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) kept its benchmark interest rate steady overnight.
The Fed funds rate was kept unchanged at 4.25-4.50 per cent.
At 6 pm, the local note fell to 4.2650/2730 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.2410/2455.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the Fed’s decision to hold its key interest rate unchanged signalled that the current monetary policy stance is appropriate.
“This implies that the Fed is keen to keep the policy unchanged as concerns over tariff-induced inflation warrant a restrictive monetary policy stance,” he told Bernama.
Back home, he noted that the tabling of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Parliament today saw the development expenditure (DE) allocation raised to RM430 billion from RM400 billion for the next five-year period from 2026 and 2030. “This will help promote domestic demand as this will encourage investment activities, which then will help lift Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Ultimately, this will be ringgit-positive in the mid to long term,” he said.
The 13MP, which aims to drive sustainable growth based on value creation across all sectors, involves RM611 billion in investments to ensure the success of the five-year plan, with RM430 billion being the government’s development allocation.
The funding from government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) would amount to RM120 billion to support economic growth through domestic direct investment in strategic sectors, and via the public-private partnership (PPP) method, support from the private sector stands at RM61 billion.
Of the RM430 billion allocation, he said more than half, or RM227 billion, will be channelled to the economic sector as the main pillar of the country’s growth.
At the close, the ringgit ended higher against major currencies.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.8443/8498 from 2.8646/8678 at the close on Wednesday, appreciated versus the British pound to 5.6426/6532 from 5.6745/6805, and gained against the euro to 4.8766/8857 from 4.8996/9048 previously.
The ringgit was also mostly higher against regional peers.
It improved against the Philippine peso to 7.31/7.33 from 7.36/7.38, edged higher versus the Thai baht to 13.0448/0753 from 13.0528/0719, and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2889/2953 from 3.2919/2957.
However, it fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 259.1/259.7 from yesterday’s 258.5/258.9.
-- BERNAMA