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Exchange Rates for RM

Easily the best rated money changers in Komtar, 2nd level 1440042213465.jpg
 
I think those whom change Sing dollars to Malaysian ringgit to pay for their properties should take advantage of the Promotion Fixed Deposit offered by a) UOB City Square 4.20%p.a. (1st sept to 30 Oct)
b) OCBC 4.20%p.a. (11sept to 30 sept)
In this case, taking advantage of the exchange rate and fixed deposit earnings of a few extra thousand dollars
 
Ringgit strengthen fiercely these 2 days since the rally, hope all the investors here had harvested enough ringgit at 3.05.

Last week changed @ RM 3.05... today RM 2.997 and I believe heading up to RM 2.90 soon

My retired friend changed S$500k from the sale of his HDB flat to RM 1.5 million plus last week and spent some RM 1 million to pay in cash for a terrace house 2 storey. RM 500k to spend.

Impressive.
 
Last week changed @ RM 3.05... today RM 2.997 and I believe heading up to RM 2.90 soon

My retired friend changed S$500k from the sale of his HDB flat to RM 1.5 million plus last week and spent some RM 1 million to pay in cash for a terrace house 2 storey. RM 500k to spend.

Impressive.

My personal opinion is to keep the SG flat, whenever possible, and lease it out for stable LT retirement incomes. That's also the advice from our millionaire ministars as well.....
 
My personal opinion is to keep the SG flat, whenever possible, and lease it out for stable LT retirement incomes. That's also the advice from our millionaire ministars as well.....

I also think this is more sensible, collecting monthly rental of some sgd 3000 and using rm 2500 per month to pay for a terrace house in Malaysia as rental or even as installment(topping up if necessary), while keeping the hdb property.
 
Last week changed @ RM 3.05... today RM 2.997 and I believe heading up to RM 2.90 soon

My retired friend changed S$500k from the sale of his HDB flat to RM 1.5 million plus last week and spent some RM 1 million to pay in cash for a terrace house 2 storey. RM 500k to spend.

Impressive.

Unless your retired friend is a malaysian or SPR then keeping a flat in sg is the better option i feel. but hey he must have did his sums i guess
 
You mean the Spore market for HDBs are now S$3000? I ask around and the average seem S$1500-$2000


I also think this is more sensible, collecting monthly rental of some sgd 3000 and using rm 2500 per month to pay for a terrace house in Malaysia as rental or even as installment(topping up if necessary), while keeping the hdb property.
 
$1.5-$2k are usually only for 3rm HDB and not prime locations. (OCR)
$3k could be for 4-5rooms in RCR locations.
CCR 4/5rm HDB locations easily can command $3.5k UP.

Is your rate up to date? Cos my friend recently rented out new flats @ just $700 per room ( Around $2500 for 3 rooms inc master bedroom ) and the location is around Boon Keng. 5 room flat. Heard he bought @ S$600k plus.
 
Is your rate up to date? Cos my friend recently rented out new flats @ just $700 per room ( Around $2500 for 3 rooms inc master bedroom ) and the location is around Boon Keng. 5 room flat. Heard he bought @ S$600k plus.

There's no need to argue over the rental. HDB rental prices are easily available in Straits Times, and the latest median rent for 5 room HDB in Woodlands is around S$2,200 - S$2,300. That's probably around the base rental for 5 room HDB flats in SG.
 
Fed on track for rate hike this year: Yellen
PUBLISHED1 HOUR AGO
But economic 'surprises' could lead to change in plan: US central banker

WASHINGTON • Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the United States central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year, even as she acknowledged that economic "surprises" could lead them to change that plan.

"Most FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) participants, including myself, currently anticipate that achieving these conditions will likely entail an initial increase in the federal funds rate later this year, followed by a gradual pace of tightening thereafter," Dr Yellen said during a speech on Thursday in Massachusetts. "But if the economy surprises us, our judgments about appropriate monetary policy will change."

She was speaking a week after the FOMC left its benchmark federal funds target near zero, saying "recent global economic and financial developments" might dampen growth and inflation in the US.

Her remarks echoed recent comments by other Fed officials who have sought to frame the outcome of this month's meeting of the committee as a pause in the march towards higher rates, rather than a signal that the Fed's intentions have changed.

The committee next meets from Oct 27 to 28, and then again from Dec 15 to 16.

Concerns over a slowdown in China after a surprise Aug 11 devaluation of the yuan triggered turmoil in financial markets and raised questions about the outlook for the global economy.

While "there wasn't anything significant enough that changed in one week for her to give us a different take", said Mr Tom Porcelli, chief US economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York, Dr Yellen "finally acknowledges that she, specifically, does believe that a rate hike is appropriate this year".

Mr Porcelli expects a December increase, but thinks there's a high hurdle to moving this year. Slower demand from China, where growth is projected to drop below 7 per cent this year, has helped push down commodity prices, sapping already low inflation in the US.

The Fed has also been forced to weigh headwinds against signs of continued growth in the domestic economy. US employers have added 1.7 million jobs to payrolls this year, pushing unemployment down to 5.1 per cent last month, its lowest in more than seven years.

The US dollar rallied after Dr Yellen's remarks, dragging the Singapore dollar to $1.4239 against the US dollar yesterday. It had closed at $1.4216 the previous day.

The ringgit declined beyond RM4.39 against the greenback yesterday for the first time since the Asian financial crisis prompted Malaysia's central bank to implement capital controls in 1998.

Dr Yellen's remarks were "significant in that it does indicate they're going to move forward and raise rates this year", said Ms Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management.

"She made a pretty strong argument that rates are going to rise this year."

BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/fed-on-track-for-rate-hike-this-year-yellen
 
Does Malaysia's ringgit face 1997 all over again?

Leslie Shaffer
CNBC
Friday, Sep 25, 2015

The sell-off in the Malaysian ringgit, already among the world's worst performing currencies, may run further amid a toxic mix of shaky economic fundamentals and the spreading of what is being called the country's worst-ever political crisis.

The ringgit has fallen around 40 per cent over the past year, with the US dollar fetching around 4.34 ringgit on Thursday. That's the Malaysian currency's weakest against the greenback since late 1997, when the dollar at one point fetched as much as 4.88 ringgit.

"There remains significant downside risk even after the sharp ringgit correction," Hak Bin Chua, an analyst at Merrill Lynch in Singapore, said in a note Wednesday, noting that he sees little comfort from claims Malaysia is much stronger than in 1997, when it took a wallop from the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC).

"Some leverage indicators are much higher than in 1997, including household, public and external debt," Chua noted, citing data showing household debt as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) is almost double at 86 per cent, compared with 1997's level of 46 per cent. He noted public debt as a percentage of GDP is also significantly higher at 54 per cent, up from 31 per cent in 1997.

"The ringgit depreciation has not strengthened exports or improved the trade balance at all," he said, adding he also expects foreign investors will begin unwinding their holdings of Malaysian government bonds once the Federal Reserve begins increasing interest rates, expected later this year. Foreign investors currently own 47 per cent of Malaysia's rinngit-denominated debt that is currently outstanding.

"The current currency crisis may not be a repeat of history and 1997, but it sure rhymes and is probably far from being over," he said.

Chua sees another factor as set to weigh on the currency's prospects: "The current political crisis, sparked by the 1MDB scandal, is the worst in Malaysia's history."

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund, launched in 2008 to promote economic development, has been in the limelight for months, amid allegations of false auditing, huge debt and, more recently, financial fraud. In July, the Wall Street Journal published a report alleging nearly $700 million flowed from the fund to Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal bank account. Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Singapore and Switzerland have both suspended bank accounts tied to 1MDB and in the US, media reports said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating as well.

Analysts at HSBC said it's difficult to quantify the impact of political uncertainty on the currency so far, but in a note earlier this week, they said, "politics will become more significant for the currency if policy risks and economic costs start to materialize," especially with ratings agencies monitoring government spending.

But HSBC also doesn't believe the ringgit's 1997 levels necessarily offer any signal on just how far the ringgit could fall.

"It is possible for dollar-ringgit to go into uncharted territory," the HSBC analysts said, something other emerging market currencies have already done. "This time around, the broad US dollar is appreciating also on its own merits," while during the 1990s, the greenback's strength was largely due to emerging market weakness, it noted.

Brazil's real, for one, has touched an all-time low against the greenback amid steep drops in the prices of its commodities exports and a drop off in demand from major trading partner China as well as domestic political turmoil.

HSBC doesn't believe the ringgit has reached its worst-case scenario yet. The bank is concerned that prices of palm oil, which accounts for around 8 per cent of Malaysia's exports, are falling. Palm oil sales are denominated in ringgit, meaning a weaker ringgit doesn't improve the country's trade figures.

The weaker ringgit may already be boosting inflation in the country. Credit Suisse noted August inflation came in at 3.1 per cent on-year, above its forecast for 2.8 per cent, largely due to higher food prices as the weaker currency affected import prices. The bank expects the US dollar will be fetching 4.50 ringgit in three months.

- See more at: http://business.asiaone.com/news/do...face-1997-all-over-again#sthash.J4vk9iYx.dpuf
 
I pity those msians working and staying in the North. With declining ringgit and sky high prices of food, its a double whammy for them. See my relatives face made me sad too.

But not for my msian colleagues who work in Spore. They smile cheek to cheek most of the time in my work place whenever i told them ringgit rate is now such and such.
 
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