KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economic position remains stable despite global trade uncertainties, with optimism surrounding ongoing negotiations, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) deputy governor Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid.
He highlighted the impact of the ongoing trade war and trade negotiations, noting that while short-term effects may not be drastic, long-term shifts in trade dynamics could influence currency movements.
“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mentioned this morning that Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz is already in Washington this week to negotiate with the United States, so we will have to see how these developments pan out.
“I think there’s (a good) reason to not be so pessimistic of the outcome of the trade dynamics, especially on the trade negotiations,” he said during a panel session entitled ‘The Drivers of the Ringgit’ at the Sasana Symposium 2025 here today.
Adnan said local businesses remain positive on the outcome of the changing trade dynamics, and they foresee new opportunities emerging from this scenario.
He noted that the majority of businesses in Malaysia were not significantly affected by the trade war, and some are looking for new opportunities to emerge because of the changing trade dynamics.
“We engage with businesses across the country, from regional offices on the East Coast, northern states, southern states, as well as in Sabah and Sarawak.
“So we think the outcome of the trade negotiations may not be too bad for Malaysia, and we should be able to continue to have a pretty steady growth and new opportunities could emerge out of this,” he said.
On the ringgit, Adnan said BNM will continue to engage with the marketplace through the Financial Markets Committee (FMC) and corporate entities to ensure its intervention decisions could stabilise the ringgit.
“We come in to provide liquidity to the market and also work with the other players to see what their flows are, and how we can help to stabilise the currency market.
“This is what we have been doing for the past two years already, and we will continue to do this because the currency is highly uncertain and still quite challenging,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adnan said the central bank is looking forward to expanding the scope of the Local Currency Settlement Framework (LCSF) beyond trade, which includes the securities and equities markets, following a positive outcome from the usage of local currency in LCSF among ASEAN countries.
BNM has introduced LCSF for businesses to transact, invoice and deal in settlement in Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah or even yuan.
“We are quite happy with the progress. Today, 20 to 27 per cent of our trade with China is settled in either yuan or ringgit.
“Even for Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah, which are later additions, 16 to 17 per cent of trade with these countries are settled in these local currencies,” he said. – Bernama
