Ringgit Advances as Growth, Inflation May Support Higher Rates
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Malaysia’s ringgit strengthened from a two-month low as economists forecast gross domestic product rose at a faster pace last quarter, supporting the central bank’s bias for a tighter monetary policy.
Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy expanded 4.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 4.8 percent in the preceding three months amid a surge in commodity prices, according to the median forecast of 21 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Bank Negara Malaysia, which will report the data after 6 p.m. local time, has raised its overnight rate and banks’ reserve ratio this year. Bonds were little changed.