KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 —The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar today following China’s unexpected rate cut today.
At 6pm, the local note fell to 4.6335/6385 against the US dollar compared with 4.6140/6175 yesterday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said China surprisingly cut a key policy rate —the second reduction this year — signalling that the central bank is committed to providing support for economic growth.
It was reported that the People’s Bank of China unexpectedly cut the one-year medium-term lending facility rate by 15 basis points to 2.5 per cent from 2.65 per cent.
“The Chinese yuan and ringgit are closely correlated. Therefore, any weakening of the yuan will have a direct bearing on the ringgit.
“We have seen the dollar-ringgit pair depreciating to RM4.6335,” he said.
The ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1830/1867 from 3.1832/1858 on Monday, fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8966/9030 from 5.8575/8619 and was easier versus the euro to 5.0690/0745 from 5.0519/0557 previously.
The local unit traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit inched up against the Thai baht at 13.0908/1105 from 13.1173/1332 on Monday but slid against the Philippine peso to 8.15/8.16 from 8.11/8.13.
It was lower vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4155/4197 from 3.4064/4095 at Monday’s close and declined versus the Indonesian rupiah to 301.9/302.4 from 301.2/301.6 previously.
— Bernama
