RINGGIT OPENS FIRMER VS US DOLLAR, TRACKING POSITIVE MOMENTUM ON 4Q 2025 GDP GROWTH

By Engku Shariful Azni Engku Ab Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar at the opening on Monday, tracking positive momentum on the better-than-expected fourth quarter (4Q) 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.3 per cent which was announced last Friday, an analyst said. 

At 8am, the ringgit opened firmer at 3.8970/9190 against the greenback, compared to 3.9060/9155 at last Friday's closing. 

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the current official GDP forecast for 2026 of 4.0 per cent to 4.5 per cent is likely to be revised upward to account for the country’s resilient economy amidst external uncertainties.

“This would mean the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) would be kept steady in 2026 as there is no urgency to overstimulate the economy,” he told Bernama. 

Mohd Afzanizam said the interest rate gap between the US Federal Reserve (Fed) fund rate and the OPR would be narrowed as the Fed is expected to ease its monetary policy stance this year. 

Therefore, he said the ringgit-dollar (exchange rate) would make another attempt to break the psychological level of RM3.9000 today.

At the opening, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It appreciated against the euro to 4.6242/6503 from 4.6325/6390 at Friday’s close, and rose vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.3178/3479 from 5.3211/3286 last Friday, but depreciated versus the Japanese yen to 2.5501/5648 from 2.5435/5474.

The local note traded higher against its ASEAN peers.

The ringgit inched up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0860/1042 from 3.0904/0950 and surged versus the Thai baht at 12.5273/6200 from 12.5607/5849.

It also gained against the Indonesian rupiah to 231.4/232.8 from 231.9/232.4 at Friday’s close, and was higher against the Philippine peso at 6.71/6.76 from 6.73/6.74.

-- BERNAMA