Business

Monday November 16, 2009

Bank Negara : Ringgit moves orderly, reflect country’s recovery


SINGAPORE: The ringgit’s recent moves have been orderly and reflect the country’s economic recovery, Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.

“From time to time, the ringgit will adjust. Right now, the underlying trend continues to reflect the improvement in our economic fundamentals,” she told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an Apec meeting in Singapore on Saturday.

“Intervention is to maintain orderly market conditions. The market has been orderly, even though it’s volatile,” she said.

The ringgit has risen 2% against the US dollar this year, trailing the 17% rise of the Indonesian rupiah and the South Korean won’s gain of nearly 9%.

Many analysts expect the ringgit to strengthen in line with the country’s recovery, which has been relatively weak compared with other economies in Asia.

Zeti reiterated her earlier forecast that the economy, hit hard by the global downturn, would return to positive growth in the fourth quarter and expected the recovery to continue in 2010. “For next year, we have said 2%-3% growth or perhaps even better. It’s too early to predict with any certainty but there will definitely be recovery in 2010,” Zeti said.

“Monetary policy will continue to be supporting growth. We don’t have any concern of inflation at this point of time,” she said. — Reuters

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