00:00For Singaporeans heading into Malaysia for their weekly shopping trip,
00:04you might find that your Singapore dollar just doesn't stretch as far against their ringgit.
00:10For more, we're actually joined by our resident Asian currency expert, Marcus Wong.
00:16Tell us a little bit more about what's happening with the Singapore dollar-Malaysian ringgit cross.
00:22Well, as you mentioned, the ringgit has been doing very well.
00:25If you look at the Singapore ringgit cross, it's there about 3.10 right now.
00:29Lately over two years ago, it was near an all-time high and it was above 3.50.
00:33Do you tell us exactly what is driving the ringgit's strength?
00:37Three reasons are mainly cited behind the ringgit's outperformance.
00:41Firstly, it's of course the AI theme, which is of course a global theme,
00:44but Malaysia has benefited due to the growth of its data centres.
00:48Secondly, it's robust exports.
00:50And this is despite the 19% US tariffs on the economy.
00:54And last but not least, some investors see the ringgit as somewhat as a proxy player or a beta,
00:59with a Chinese ringgit which is also expected to rise this year.
01:02This is all great news for Malaysia by the way,
01:04but for the Singaporean consumer that often goes over the border,
01:09across the border into Johor Bahru on the weekends to do the shopping,
01:13it's not great news, is it?
01:14Yes, you know, it's one of the busiest border crosses in the world.
01:17There are over 300,000 people that cross the border daily.
01:20As a result of that, Singaporeans, certainly also Malaysians, closely watch that exchange rate.
01:27Okay, putting into perspective for us out there,
01:29if I was to go and do my weekly shopping trip in Johor Bahru this weekend,
01:35what's happening with my dollar to ringgit?
01:38Well, you know, if you go in and buy 100 ringgit a grocery service,
01:41that would cost you around 32 Singapore dollars to date.
01:45But just two years ago, it would have costed you less than 30 dollars.
01:49Here's the all-important question.
01:50Is this trend of the ringgit strengthening against the Singapore dollar likely to continue?
01:56Brilliant question.
01:56And I think it's a fair consensus for among businesses out there,
01:59that ringgit will do well over the next few months
02:02and could possibly outperform most Asian peers in the next few months or so.
02:06So if there is one key takeaway from all of this,
02:09is that expected Singapore dollar to get you just a little bit less against their ringgit.
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