Whither the ringgit? US Inflation & workforce are the bigger problems

 

WITH the ringgit passing the RM4.50 mark to the mighty US dollar, questions have been asked as to where the ringgit is headed, as it has dropped almost 9% year-todate and at a level last seen during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 – almost a quarter of a century ago.

“See you at five” – a term coined during the crisis time, is being re-played like a broken record as speculation mounts that the ringgit will hit the unthinkable five handle to the dollar in future.

However, as we are aware, the ringgit is not to be entirely blamed for its weakness, as there are other factors that are playing out.

If one were to analyse carefully, the ringgit is in actual fact firmer against the Japanese yen by about 12.5%, up 7.2% and 7.1% against the British pound and the South Korean won respectively; between 0.9% and 3.8% higher against the Chinese yuan, Thai baht, Philippine peso and the euro. 

 

Other than the US dollar, the ringgit is only weaker against the Australian dollar, Indonesian rupiah, and the regional champion, the Singapore dollar by between 1.1% and 4.5%. 

 

Hence, overall, for the performance year-to-date, the ringgit may look like a weak currency as we are fixated on comparing the ringgit’s performance against the US dollar as well as the Singapore dollar, but in actual fact, the ringgit has outperformed at least seven other major and regional currencies.

The strength of the US dollar cannot be denied as the Federal Reserve (Fed) is battling hard against high inflation prints and is left with no choice but to raise the benchmark Fed fund rate (FFR).

Having raised 225 basis points or bps so far this year, the Fed is now poised to increase the FFR by another 75 bps in the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week, with odds of 100 bps too not being ruled out at all.

This was after the headline and core US inflation prints came in at 8.3% and 6.3%, and ahead of the market forecast of 8.1% and 6% respectively. Should the FOMC raise the FFR by 75 bps next week, the market is pricing in another 75-bps hike in the November meeting and a 50-bps increase in the December meeting.

This will take the FFR to 4.25%4.50% and bring the 2022 rate hikes to 425 bps. With the US 10-year treasuries at 3.43%, the yield spread between the Malaysian benchmark 10-year Malaysian Government Securities has narrowed to just 72 bps from 209 bps at the start of the year.

Indeed, the divergence in the monetary policy adopted by the Fed has a significant impact on the ringgit too.

Another key factor that the ringgit seems to be suffering is the correlation between the ringgit and the yuan. Both currencies removed the dollar-peg in July 2005, with Kuala Lumpur following suit right after Beijing’s move. Since then, the ringgit seems to have a high correlation with the yuan. 

Year-to-date, although the ringgit is up 0.9% against the yuan since the start of the year, the ringgit’s movement against yuan has been relatively flat over the past five years with the local currency down by 0.4% compared with a year ago, and 1.2% over the past five years.

The yuan has also been weaker against the US dollar, as the Chinese economy has not been doing well since China’s zero tolerance towards Covid-19 cases, which has resulted in major cities or regions going into short-term lockdowns. The yuan even hit a fresh two-year low, flirting with the seven handle against the US dollar.

Other factors too are playing out on the ringgit weakness, although we are fortunate that we continue to run a current account surplus, we have been running budget deficits for nearly a quarter of a century.

This has ballooned our federal government debt level to the extent that we have even moved the needle to ensure we remain within the redefined debt/gdp ratio.

Malaysia also has an over-dependence on foreign workers, which continues to weaken the ringgit with a high level of foreign remittances as well as a deficit in our services account and net outflows from primary income.

In addition, Malaysians investing abroad is another strain on the ringgit, while errors and omissions too can be a large contributor to the ringgit’s weakness as well.

As measuring a currency is all relative, it is understandable when the general public refers to the ringgit’s strength or weakness as “only” when compared with the US dollar and to a certain extent, the Singapore dollar.

Chart 1 shows the relative performance of the ringgit against the major global and regional currencies.

It can be seen that much of the weakness against the US dollar and the Singapore dollar occurred this year itself, while against the pound, euro, yen, won, baht and peso, the ringgit has been gaining ground not only year-to-date but also over the past year and five years.

Against the Australian dollar and rupiah, the ringgit has recouped its weakness against the two currencies with a stronger performance year-to-date.

While the picture looks respectable over the past five years, data going back over a 10-year and 15-year period, suggests that the ringgit has significantly underperformed.

Chart 2 shows the performance of the ringgit vis-à-vis the major global and regional currencies.

As seen in Chart 2, over a 10-year horizon, ie, from mid-september 2012 to the present, the ringgit is only firmer when compared with the yen (19.1%); Australian dollar (5.1%) and the rupiah (5%).

Against all the other currencies, the ringgit is weaker by between 6% against the pound to as much as 49.1% against the US dollar.

Over a 15-year horizon, the ringgit was also seen as weaker as it was down by between 4.5% against the yen and Australian dollar to as much as 40% against the Singapore dollar.

The ringgit is only firmer against the pound (25.6%); rupiah (18.1%); won (13.3%) and the euro (6.2%).

Another comparison is the performance of the ringgit since it was de-pegged on July 21, 2005.

Here one can observe that while the ringgit is down 41.3% since then against the yuan and 19.3% against the US dollar, it is firmer against other major currencies, rising by 1.9% against the euro, 6.4% against the yen and 21.3% against the pound.

Regionally, although the ringgit is up more than 20% against the rupiah, the ringgit is down significantly against other regional currencies.

This is sharpest against the Singapore dollar with about 42.7% depreciation, 35.7% against the baht, and 16.5% against the peso.

As currencies are valued on a relative basis by comparing one currency with another, an alternative approach is to look into the real effective exchange rate (REER) which takes into account the weighted average of a currency in relation to an index or a basket of other major currencies. The weights are based on comparing the relative trade balance of a currency against each country in the index.

REER data is provided by the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) monthly and Chart 3 summarises Malaysia’s REER performance since the de-pegging days, plotted against the US dollar.

The chart shows a highly correlated chart whereby the correlation was observed at -0.95, suggesting that REER has a significant impact on the value of the US dollar-ringgit exchange rate.

A tough question as the valuation of a currency is always seen as a relative point to another currency while the strength/weakness of one currency can also be attributed to the relative weakness/strength of another currency.

Nevertheless, if one were to gauge the REER as a reference point, the ringgit is effectively undervalued by approximately 16.8%, as a neutral REER should be at the 100.00 index point level.in

At this level, the ringgit’s fair value is approximately RM3.89 to the US dollar. However, the REER has always been trading below the 100 index point level, except for a brief occasion between April 2010 and August 2011; in February/march 2012; and between November 2012 and May 2013.

In July 2011, the ringgit traded at its post de-pegging high of RM2.9385 before succumbing to weakness due to multiple reasons.

Bank Negara’s international reserves begin to weaken from a peak of Us$141.4bil (or Rm435.5bil) as at May 2013 at a time when the ringgit was trading at RM3.08 to the dollar and the REER was at its peak of 104.11 points.

However, if one were to take the average REER of 93.34 points over the past 17 years, the ringgit has a fair value of RM4.17 to the dollar.

Hence, while the ringgit has weakened considerably against major currencies, especially since its de-pegging days, the local currency remains an undervalued currency by between 8.9% and 16.6%.

While the ringgit is seen as weak against the US dollar and Singapore dollar, it has outperformed against other major currencies like the euro, pound and yen.

Over the longer term, Malaysia needs to address the serious structural issues that have made us less competitive than our neighbours. Top of the list is education reforms which should be addressed quickly as we are losing out our young bright minds via migration.

One of Malaysia’s biggest losses is the brain drain that has benefitted many countries, especially Singapore, Australia and even as far as the United States.

The second issue that Malaysia needs to address is to attract right-minded high-skilled knowledge workers as well as the ability to attract the right investment dollars into Malaysia.

The spill-over effect from an investment-friendly country is multiple, as it can help to lift Malaysia’s competitiveness not only in traditional fields but new robust industries related to the technology and services industry.

Third, Malaysia needs to address the current low wage levels of Malaysians as we cannot be a high-income nation if 50% of Malaysians are earning less than RM2,100 per month.

There must be a concerted effort to increase wages, which will indirectly address not only the rising cost of living but increase the affordability as well as tax revenues of the government.

Fourth is our fight against corruption. It is a known fact that a low ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index is highly correlated to the cost of doing business.

Malaysia needs to make greater efforts to weed out the corrupt practices, both in the government and in the private sector to enable Malaysia to be better position to not only attract the right global investors but to reduce the cost of public spending, which eventually leads to a lower cost to consumers.

Finally, it’s the politics and public policies that come with it. We must not only be investor friendly but must avoid flip-flopping policies that can cause serious irreparable damage to our reputation in the eyes of the world.

Public policies too must be cleverly crafted with the right inputs from all stakeholders to enable Malaysia to march forward as one.

Only then, we will see a stronger ringgit not only against the currencies that Malaysia has outperformed but also against the mighty US dollar and Singapore dollar

  by StarBizPANKAJ 4. KUMAR Source link

 

 Top stories

The Star 

US Inflation? The workforce is the bigger problem

 https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2022/09/17/inflation-the-workforce-is-the-bigger-problem

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Advisor Perspectives

US Inflation? The Workforce Is the Bigger Problem - Articles

 https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2022/09/14/inflation-the-workforce-is-the-bigger-problem

 

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Rising tides of currencies globally cause inflation, money worthless!

A PACKET of nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk) with a fried egg costs around RM2 nowadays. I remember getting a similar packet (and in bigger portion) at RM1 ten years ago. It is a 100% price appreciation in ten years! My friends and I were jokingly saying that nasi lemak would be a good investment tool if it can be kept for ten years.

However, all of us know that nasi lemak is best served when it is fresh. It can never be kept for long despite its potential for value appreciation. In fact, its value will drop to zero as soon as it turns stale. And interestingly, the same situation applies to the money we hold today. Our currency can be as “perishable” as nasi lemak in this global money printing era if money is not produced for the right purpose and use in the right way and the right time.

The global economies have been embarking on expansionary monetary policies since the financial crisis broke out in 2008. Central banks around the world are printing money to support their economies and increase exports, with the United States as the primary instigator.

The Mighty Dollar

Since 2008, the Fed initiated several rounds of measure termed “Quantitative Easing”, which is literally known as an act of money printing. The Fed's balance sheet was about US$700bil (RM2.1 trillion) when the global financial crisis began; now it has more than tripled. With several countries' central banks including the European Central bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England taking similar expansionary measures and encouraging lending, more than US$10 trillion (RM30.3 trillion) has been poured into the global economy since the crisis began.

While the global central banks have become addicted to open-ended easing and competed to weaken their currencies to boost economies, the impact of these measures to the global economy is not quantifiable or realised yet. However, basic economic theory tells us that when there is too much money chasing limited goods in the market, it will eventually spark inflation.

When money is created out of thin air, there is no fundamental support to the new money pumped into the economies. More money supply would only be good if the productivity is going up or in the other sense, when more products and value-added services are created. In the absence of good productivity, more and more money would not make people richer. Instead, it would only decrease the purchasing value of the printed notes.

Let's imagine a more simplified situation. For example, we used to purchase an apple for RM1. If the money supply doubled but the amount of apples available in the market remains, one apple will now costs us RM2 instead of RM1. Now, our money has halved its original value. If the central banks of the key economies keep flooding the global markets by printing more money, the scenario can only lead to the worst, i.e. hyperinflation.

This occurred in Germany after the First World War. Hyperinflation happened as the Weimar government printed banknotes in great quantities to pay for its war reparation. The value of the German banknote then fell since it was not supported in equal or greater terms by the country's production.

Flood of money

The sudden flood of money followed by a massive workers' strike, drove prices out of control. A loaf of bread which cost 250 marks in January 1923 jumped to 200 billion marks in November 1923. People collected wages with suitcases. Thieves would rather steal the suitcase instead of the money, and it was cheaper to light fire with money than with newspaper. The German currency was practically worthless during the hyperinflation period.

That scenario may seem incredible in today's context. Nevertheless, we should not downplay the severity of a global inflation should the current synchronised money printing push the economies of major countries to burst like a balloon in sequence.

When this scenario happens, people with savings and fixed income will likely be the hardest hit. To withstand the tide of inflation, the best defence is to invest in assets such as publicly traded shares, metal commodities like gold and silver and properties that can hedge against inflation.

Investing in any assets require in-depth research before embarking on one. Commodities and stock markets are liquid assets that can be bought and sold with relative ease, while properties are favoured as long-term investment.

With Malaysia's current economic and population growth, added with its still comparatively low property prices in the region, our primary and secondary market properties are good investment assets for investors to gain from the continuous capital appreciation that this industry is enjoying.

With the above as a backdrop, are property prices really going up globally?

Using the nasi lemak analogy, if we were to buy a RM100,000 medium-cost apartment 10 years ago, it would be equivalent to 100,000 packets of nasi lemak. Assuming it has doubled in price today, it would still be the equivalent of 100,000 packets of nasi lemak at RM2 today. It would seem to me that the true value of properties hasn't gone up, but that global currencies have just gotten cheaper.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
By DATUK ALAN TONG

FIABCI Asia Pacific chairman Datuk Alan Tong has over 50 years of experience in property development.

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Japan's economy contracts

Aggressive: Japan has been warned that its expansionary monetary policy could affect that country’s future growth as a weak yen could undercut Korean exporters’ competitiveness. — EPA

TOKYO: Japan's economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, failing to escape a mild recession and playing into the hands of a government pushing for more aggressive monetary expansion that's drawn international criticism.

While a 0.1% drop in output defied expectations of a slight uptick after two quarters of contraction, economists expect the economy will slowly recover this year with the help of bolder monetary and fiscal stimulus and an improving global economy.

The Bank of Japan also struck a more positive note on the economy while keeping its policy on hold after it boosted its monetary stimulus and doubled its inflation target to 2% a month ago.

Markets, however, have no doubt that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will keep pushing the central bank for more, given the still fragile state of the economy. A return to rising prices also appears far off after nearly two decades of low-grade deflation.

Those expectations for further easing have sent the yen into retreat, driving it down nearly 20% against the dollar since November and stirring an international debate over whether Japan was effectively using aggressive money printing to steer the yen lower.

Tokyo has defended its action, saying its policies are aimed at pulling the country out of deflation, not at nudging down the yen, and governor Masaaki Shirakawa is expected to reinforce that argument when he will attend his last Group of 20 finance leaders' meeting in Moscow this weekend.

Japan has said the Group of Seven rich nations accepted Tokyo's view when it declared in a statement on Tuesday that fiscal and monetary policies would not be directed at devaluing currencies.

But remarks from former BoJ governor Kazumasa Iwata yesterday are likely to rekindle the international debate on Tokyo's true motives.

The yen is still overvalued from a trade perspective and the reversal of the currency's strength is essential for the BoJ to achieve its 2% inflation target, Iwata was quoted as saying by a Japanese ruling party official.

Iwata, considered one of the leading candidates to replace Shirakawa when he leaves his post in March, said the dollar at 95 yen was appropriate. Iwata heads a private economics think-tank and now has no policymaking role.

Abe and his cabinet have the right to fill three top BoJ posts when Shirakawa and his two deputies leave on March 19 and is widely expected to pick advocates of more aggressive central bank action than the cautious outgoing chief, keeping downward pressure on the yen.

The dollar traded around 93.50 yen yesterday after hitting a 33-month high of about 94.47 yen on Monday.

South Korea's central bank has warned that Japan's expansionary monetary policy could affect that country's future growth as a weak yen could undercut Korean exporters' competitiveness.

As widely expected, the central bank maintained its overnight call rate target at a range of zero to 0.1% by a unanimous vote, and held off expanding its asset buying and lending programme, while offering a rosier view of the economy than just a month ago.

“Japan's economy appears to be bottoming out,” it said. In January, the BoJ said the economy was weakening.

The world's third largest economy contracted for the third consecutive quarter in October-December, showing Japan was taking longer to escape from a mild recession. - Reuters