Singapore Dollar surges against Malaysian Ringgit, exceeds 3.5 mark in recent exchange rate climbs

SINGAPORE: The exchange rate between the Singapore dollar and the Malaysian Ringgit has surged, hitting 3.50115 by 10:50 a.m. on Tuesday.

Although it briefly exceeded 3.5 earlier, it later fell below 3.49.

At 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the exchange rate again exceeded 3.5.

Over the past month, the Singapore dollar has risen from 3.43 to 3.5 against the Malaysian Ringgit.

On 12 July, the ringgit against the Singapore dollar (S$) dropped to a daily low of 3.4783.

At the beginning of this year, the exchange rate was only 3.28.

Amid a widening rate gap with the US, the Malaysian ringgit plummeted to its lowest point since the Asian Financial Crisis.

Reaching 4.7703 against the dollar, it suffered a 0.5% decline, marking its weakest position since 1998. Emerging as the poorest performer in Asia, it trails only behind the yen this year.

In July, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank of Singapore, warned of weak near-term growth for one of Asia’s top financial hubs and said its fight against rising prices was not yet over, despite lowering its inflation forecast for this year.

Ravi Menon, the Managing Director of the MAS, stated that Singapore’s inflation would significantly decrease due to tight monetary policy, but the central bank will not shift switching from “inflation-fighting mode” to “growth-supporting mode”.

In April 2023, when Singapore’s main consumer price statistics exceeded expectations, the MAS took steps to strengthen its currency.

This followed the MAS’s use of foreign exchange rates as a primary tool to address import inflation issues.