ABCs of Personal Finance
How’s my ringgit doing versus the few ASEAN / major countries we love to compare?
How’s my ringgit doing versus the few ASEAN / major countries we love to compare? Baht is still stronger if we look at 5-year movement
How’s my ringgit doing versus the few ASEAN / major countries we love to compare? Baht is still stronger if we look at 5-year movement
Malaysia has yet to reach the levels we were in before 2018. We do not need to go even further but suffice to say, that I personally do believe countries which has trade surplus should have a stronger currency while countries with a big deficit should have a weaker currency. This is how the trade balance is remedied. When Malaysia is exporting, the country which is importing would pay us in RM. So, of course demand for RM should increase and this should support the value. I know, this sounds simple. Else, please tell me how and why do currencies fluctuate then? For the purpose of speculative investment? Hmm….
In 2026, the ringgit is Asia’s strongest currency, having strengthened nearly 10% against the US dollar in 2025. Compared to regional currencies, the ringgit’s performance is noteworthy, particularly against the Thai baht, Philippine peso, Singapore dollar, and Indonesian rupiah. These trends reflect improved economic confidence in Malaysia.
Bank Negara says this about Living Wage. “A living wage is an income level needed for a household to afford a minimum acceptable living standard, which includes the ability to participate in society, the opportunity for personal and family development, and freedom from severe financial stress.” Do take a look at the image below. For the full study, refer here. Very comprehensive report by Eilyn Chong and Farina Adam Khong Source: bnm.gov.my
Everyone hates inflation, I think. They make our money become smaller. When we used to be able to afford more things, now we could afford fewer things with the same amount of money. Anyone without income will find inflation is scary even. As they watch the amount of money in their bank account reducing, they also realize things are getting more expensive. They may even start to think if they should get some income to reduce the impact.
Just some positive news for Malaysia #4 If you ask me why only publish good news about Malaysia, I think you should have the answer
Just SOME positive news for Malaysia Malaysia is now 23rd MOST competitive country in the world (best ranking since 2020) “Malaysia has advanced 11 spots
Well, cutting rates usually indicate a slowing down of economic activities or even a potential slowdown in the near future. Thus, instead of cutting 50 basis points later, the central bank may prefer to lengthen this whole process and just cut 25 basis points earlier and another 25 basis points later. Who knows, maybe this 25 basis point could have the right effects on the economy and no further rate cuts are needed?
I repeat something that I have always been telling people and it’s very obvious from my writings. Currency movement should just be valued based on trade; surplus or deficit. If you have deficits year after year, why is your currency appreciating? No one wants to buy your goods and you have to keep buying other people’s currency because you needed their goods! Oh… the trades were done using a specific currency. No wonder.
Bank Negara Malaysia says it wants to be accommodative to economic growth as one of the reason it maintained the OPR. I think this is a healthy rate. I just hope the Federal Reserve of the US will reduce their rates and continue to do so a few more times until the differential with our OPR is very close. Currently, still some distance away. This news was yesterday:
Some of us get very worried even if interest rate rises just 50 basis points. For a RM500,000 home, a rise of 50 basis points or 0.5% is equivalent to a difference of an extra RM134.95 per month. This is why we should not over-stretch yeah. Alternatively to make up RM135 per month, we only need to reduce a total of 8-9 times from ordering a latte in Starbucks. Or eat bread for 3 days versus a typical RM45 dinner per time. Realistic right?