Given that Malaysia is Emerging Asia’s largest net energy exporter it is no surprise that the ringgit has been the region’s worst performing currency over the last nine months. Now that oil prices have stabilised it is tempting to conclude that the worst is over. But a large stock of short-term external debt makes Malaysia heavily reliant on foreign funding, despite the country running a current account surplus. As a result, we see the ringgit as one of the region’s most vulnerable currencies in the event that markets react badly to rate hikes by the US Fed later this year.
Become a client to read more
This is premium content that requires an active Capital Economics subscription to view.
Already have an account?
You may already have access to this premium content as part of a paid subscription.
Sign in to read the content in full or get details of how you can access it
Register for free
Sign up for a free account to:
- Unlock additional content
- Register for Capital Economics events
- Receive email updates and economist-curated newsletters
- Request a free trial of our services