How strong was ringgit in 2025 versus our neighbors? Which are the ones we can travel to?
Read the latest news first and then I will do a comparison of us versus all our close neighbours
Article in nst.com.my “The ringgit kicks off 2026 as Asia’s strongest-performing currency, reflecting renewed investor confidence and lifting expectations for Malaysia’s economic performance this year.
The ringgit has strengthened nearly 10 per cent against the US dollar in 2025, outpacing other major Asian currencies and reaching its strongest levels in several years.
By comparison, other Asian currencies have also gained but less than the ringgit, and some like the Indian rupee have underperformed this year.
The ringgit extended its rally, opening slightly higher against the US dollar on the last day of 2025 as the greenback weakened following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes..” Article in nst.com.my
Ringgit has been good in 2025
By the way Thai Baht maintained its strength in 2025 but against the Ringgit, it had to cede some territory. Take a look at below. Lowest was in February 2025 at RM1 to Baht 7.38 and now it’s at RM1 to Baht 7.74 So, while this has not been a big change but when we buy things, we do save some small change occasionally. For example, a bowl of noodle which used to be 100 Baht used to be RM13.55 and today it’s RM12.92 which is a savings of 63 sen. 🙂 If we save this like 20 times, it’s another bowl of the same noodle.
Ringgit versus the Philippines Pesos
It has been a significant change within the past 1 year. From the lowest of RM1 to Php 12.69 it is now RM1 to Php 14.51 In other words, if inflation has remained low in the Philippines, when Malaysians shop there, we could buy more things, eat more food, spend lesser in Ringgit for hotels and more. So, traveling to the Philippines meant we have currency advantage.
Against the mighty SGD
Our Ringgit has also appreciated. I wrote about this earlier here: Malaysians working in Singapore and earning SGD, the impact with a stronger Ringgit
Meanwhile the exchange used to be SGD1 to RM3.36 but is currently standing at RM3.16 which is an appreciation of 6.3 percent for Ringgit versus the SGD. So, it’s not an easy time for Malaysians who now could only save RM94 versus RM100 previously. So, every RM1,000 means a reduction of RM60.
Versus the Indonesian Rupiah
It has not been a happy year for the Indonesian Rupiah. Ringgit was not just strengthening, the Rupiah was weakening at the same time. This explains the huge difference between the lowest and highest points of RM1 to Rupiah 3,466 and RM1 to Rupiah 4,113. The difference is 18.7 percent which is a very significant number. When I travelled to Bandung with my family in December 2024, the exchange rate was around RM1 to Rupiah 3,580.
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