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E-mail Xinhua, October 3, 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's domestic financial market conditions remained orderly throughout periods of heightened volatility in global financial markets in the second and third quarters of 2024, the country's central bank said Thursday.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said in a statement following the release of the Financial Stability Review First Half 2024 report that shifting investor expectations around major central banks' monetary policy decisions contributed to the volatility in financial markets, and the ringgit continued to be primarily influenced by external developments.
The bank opined that positive economic prospects and domestic structural reforms, complemented by ongoing initiatives to encourage foreign exchange flows, will continue to support the ringgit.
It is noted that the ringgit has appreciated by 11.4 percent against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the BNM expects business resilience to improve further in the second half in line with the projected sustained expansion in economic activity.
Input costs are expected to ease amid lower commodity prices and the appreciating ringgit, it added.
It is noted that Malaysia's business activities improved in the first half, supported by the recovery in export and stronger domestic demand.
Some business sectors, however, continued to face challenges arising from continuing cost pressures and slower recovery in consumer demand in some segments for non-essential products, it noted.
According to the bank, household resilience continued to be supported by favorable economic and labor market conditions.
It noted Malaysia's regional cross-border instant payments connectivity has contributed to the increasing usage of cross-border quick response (QR) payments.
According to the bank, the total cross-border QR payment transactions in the first six months of 2024 alone already doubled the transaction volume recorded for the whole of 2023.
With volumes poised to grow further, it said regional authorities are working closely to ensure effective cross-border cooperation in ensuring that payment system operators continue to fulfil prescribed technical specifications for operational resilience. (1 ringgit equals 0.24 U.S. dollar) Enditem
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