Fiscal Discipline Has Enabled Ringgit To Be Top Performer Among Asian Currencies - PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Fiscal discipline and systematic management of the national economy have enabled the ringgit to record the best performance in all of Asia, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the strengthening of the ringgit against the US dollar has been very encouraging, with an increase of 8.2 per cent as of Nov 14.

“From a domestic perspective, this is certainly due to the policies we have implemented from the start, namely targeted subsidies (whereby) we stopped subsidy funds that would not directly benefit the lower-income Malaysians.

“That is why our targeted subsidy measures, such as for RON95, have had a very positive impact on the ringgit,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a question from Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH–Tebrau) on the main factors driving the ringgit’s strengthening and how this appreciation can help overall economic development, particularly for the benefit of the people.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said that encouraging government-linked investment companies (GLICs) and government-linked companies (GLCs) to play a role in national development is an appropriate and justified move.

“South Korea and several European countries, including the United Kingdom, have also adopted similar measures. This means our decision is the right one, not conflicting, although some of our economists have questioned it,” he said.

Replying to Puah’s supplementary question on the strategic sectors receiving investments amid the ringgit’s appreciation as well as measures taken to ease the cost of living, Anwar said the growing confidence in the local currency’s performance has also strengthened the services sector.

As a result, the services account turned around to record a surplus of RM0.7 billion in the third quarter of 2025, the first surplus achieved in 14 years.

He explained that this achievement was also driven by the MADANI Economy strategies, digital transformation through the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP), the energy transition agenda, the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS) and high-impact sectors such as data centres.

Anwar said the rapid development of data centres has benefited the national economy.

Although their construction requires substantial initial imports, the assets eventually generate significant services exports after the start of operations, thereby contributing to the overall improvement of the services sector, he added.

“Service export earnings from data centre development are now showing very strong performance,” he said.

However, Anwar said there are concerns that the strengthening of the ringgit has not yet been fully translated into lower prices of goods, particularly in the livestock sector, which depends on imported animal feed.

“Costs should have come down, as our inflation is low; but the reduction in prices is not very noticeable,” he said.

To address the rakyat’s cost-of-living issue, Anwar said the government is implementing two main approaches.

The first is stricter enforcement by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry to ensure that companies importing goods, including medicines and hospital equipment, reduce prices in line with the lower import costs.

“If they are importing now, the costs are lower. Therefore, price reductions cannot be avoided,” he stressed.

The second measure involves expanding the Jualan Rahmah programme and strengthening the network of retail outlets that offer lower prices, to ensure the people receive immediate benefits from price stability,” he added.

-- BERNAMA