According to the statistics department, Malaysia’s inflation rate for December 2024 has moderated to 1.7%, while the 2024 annual inflation rate stood at 1.8%.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said that domestically, low inflation suggests the Malaysian economy has been growing decently.
“The economy was able to grow above 5% in 2024, but the inflation rate remained contained.
“Therefore, fundamentally speaking, the Malaysian economy is in good shape, and it should attract foreign funds to come and invest in Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
He said that heightened external uncertainties may have curbed the risk appetite of foreign investors regarding Malaysia for now.
Meanwhile, Afzanizam said issues revolving around the policies of US president Donald Trump continue to dominate market sentiment.
“It appears that the possible imposition of an import tariff on China appears likely to be milder, and the present administration is mindful of recklessly using tariffs as a policy instrument,” he added.
At 6pm, the ringgit gained versus the greenback to 4.4340/4.4400 from yesterday’s closing of 4.4730/4.4780.
At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against other major currencies.
It rose marginally versus the Japanese yen to 2.8480/2.8522 from yesterday’s close of 2.8691/2.8725.
However, it depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6313/4.6376 from 4.6291/4.6343 yesterday and slid against the British pound to 5.4822/5.4896 from 5.4781/5.4842 previously.
Meanwhile, the local currency traded higher against Asean currencies.
It gained against the Indonesian rupiah at 272.3/272.8 from 273.6/274.1 yesterday, improved against the Philippine peso to 7.58/7.59 from 7.65/7.66, inched up against the Thai baht to 13.1106/13.1345 from yesterday’s 13.1123/13.1347, and appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2781/3.2828 from 3.2899/3.2941 previously. - FMT
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