Monday 2 January 2017

Ringgit Malaysia. A View To A Kill

Is the 1985 hit for the 80's super group Duran Duran.

There is A View To A Kill when it comes to the Ringgit, as CNBC says the future might not be so bright. Read below :

The Malaysian ringgit could weaken further in the January-March quarter against the dollar, as a combination of external risks and domestic issues hover over the beleaguered currency, according to a Westpac analyst.

The currency pair traded at 4.48 on Tuesday morning. Last month, the ringgit fell to its lowest level since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis and for full year 2016, the currency slipped 4.24 percent against the dollar.

Robert Rennie, who is global head of market strategy at Westpac, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday, "Expectations are for slower China through 2017, that's something that weighs on Malaysia clearly."

"Domestically, we have political issues," he added.

Rennie expects the ringgit to move up to 4.55 against the dollar by the end of first quarter of 2017.

In December, Mizuho Bank predicted the dollar/ringgit to hover at 4.30-4.7 in the same period.

HSBC's MD and co-head of Asian economic research, Frederic Neumann, also told CNBC on Tuesday Malaysia's shrinking current account surplus would likely make the ringgit more vulnerable this year. "It has already seen a weakening currency in the past year and that trend may continue."