Malaysia to apply new exchange rate

The new methodology in the US dollar/ringgit (USD/MYR) spot fixing will be based on market transaction data rather than the submission of quotations by selected banks. (Source: thestar.com.my)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Financial Markets Association of Malaysia (FMA) announced that a new methodology in the US dollar/ringgit (USD/MYR) spot fixing will be based on market transaction data rather than the submission of quotations by selected banks.

According to the statement, the new methodology would be based on the weighted average volume of the interbank USD/MYR forex spot rate transacted by domestic financial institutions between 8:00am to 3:00pm (this includes BNM’s transactions with interbank forex market participants).

The new forex will be published daily at 3:30pm, starting from July 18.

The new methodology is more transparent and better reflects underlying trades during the day, it said.

Also, the official closing time for the onshore ringgit market will be extended by an hour to 6pm effective on the same date.

“This will give businesses additional time to complete their foreign exchange transactions. Nevertheless, the onshore market participants can continue to transact after the official closing hour,” BNM was quoted as saying on the Malaysian newswire ‘the star’.-VNA