Falling ringgit

Its actually great for expats if they have offshore funds to exchange. There is always two sides to a coin. The interest rates are also high. But of course it depends on your long term plans.

Agree with Gravitas - depends on your circumstances. If you are repatriating money to Malaysia then the exchange rate works in your favour. However, if you are sending money or purchasing goods in other currencies from Malaysia then of course there is a negative implication.

I think for me.. being from india its negative as Ringgit fall will lead to less exchange rate in INR.. are there hopes for ringgit to improve in near future?

Don't expect any improvement for the next year or so. The trend has been going on for a couple of years but accelerated at about the beginning of 2015.

You would be well served to put some spare Ringgit on a Fixed Term Deposit to get some interest which may spread the gap between the current exchange rate INR - i.e. in the future when the RM rates improve you will have more RM to exchange and take advantage of favourable rates again.

Oz dollar going the same way against the US dollar.
And the financial wizards say it needs to drop even more !!!!

I only use ringgit when transiting through KL airport and exchange rate is 2.6 to the Oz dollar

Im not understanding why an EXPAT wants the RM to rise. I dont get it. If you are holding a foreign currency and exchange for RM, you get more. So, if you are holding Indian currency, why do you want the RM to rise?

Right now, tourism and anything people want to buy in Malaysia is getting cheaper by the minute. Im thankful that on several fronts. If you are working in Malaysia and sending money back home, yes its going to hurt. If that what you are talking about?

Hi cvco,

Just to let you know....any expat from India who is working in Malaysia will not earn in INR!!!!...obviously his/her income in Malaysia would be in MYR, and when he/she needs to send money to India,  lower RM value will yield lesser amount in INR. that's why it would hurt if RM falls so steep (currently 1 MYR=15.90 INR).

Hope you understand now the difference between an expat in Malaysia and an expat from Malaysia.

cvco wrote:

Im not understanding why an EXPAT wants the RM to rise. I dont get it. If you are holding a foreign currency and exchange for RM, you get more. So, if you are holding Indian currency, why do you want the RM to rise?

Right now, tourism and anything people want to buy in Malaysia is getting cheaper by the minute. Im thankful that on several fronts. If you are working in Malaysia and sending money back home, yes its going to hurt. If that what you are talking about?

Because if you earn 9,600 net at 4.8 RM to pound (eg 2011) then that is 2000 pounds.

At 6.3 RM get 1520 pounds a 24% PAYCUT

Most expats earn RM and save in UK (or USA etc) and may have obligations back home eg mortgage. thus they get poorer.

Also it drives inflation as imported goods are now 24% more expensive from 2011. Ouch

Tourist are not expats and tourism is down by a quarter due to other reasons (poor marketing?)