KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Malaysian ringgit which surged to a fresh near 10-month high against the dollar may continue to trend higher, said economists.
Affin Hwang Capital said in a report on Friday that it expects the ringgit continue to appreciate gradually against the U.S. dollars, strengthening to 4.10 by the end of this year.
"We believe that the Malaysian central bank's measure on exports proceeds, as well as trade surpluses, will continue to support the ringgit," the research house added.
The Malaysian central bank has required exporters to convert 75 percent of their total foreign currency into ringgit since December last year.
According to Bloomberg data, the ringgit has appreciated 6.55 percent to 4.18 against the U.S. dollar.
On Thursday, the Malaysian central bank maintained the country's interest rate at 3 percent, noting the ringgit had strengthened to better reflect the country's economic fundamentals.
AmBank Research said in a report Friday that it expected ringgit to stay firm with its fair value of 4.12 to 4.15 against the U.S. dollar.
"We saw the Malaysian central bank remain upbeat on the Malaysia's growth prospects and confident over a moderate inflation outlook in the second half," it said.
Public Investment Bank Research also opined that the measured pace of U.S. policy adjustment suggests that ringgit may not experience too much volatility going forward.
In any case, the U.S. Federal Reserve may leave Federal Funds rate unchanged for the remaining part of the year due to tepid inflation, it said.
Besides, the Malaysia central bank's rising foreign exchange reserve levels to above 100 billion U.S. dollars as of Aug. 30 suggests that it would have sufficient ammunition to keep ringgit movements at an orderly pace.
"All this suggests that ringgit may not experience much drastic movement in the near term," the research house said.
However, BMI Research, a unit of Fitch Group, saw tensions persist in the run up to key anniversaries in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) when the country typically launches missiles, which could have negative spillover effects on the ringgit
It expected the Malaysian central bank to continue to focus on maintaining currency stability in the face of external volatility.
