Malaysia as a country has grown a lot over the past few years. It evolved from a country struggling with its finances and economy to become one of Asia’s leading tourist destinations, and an industrial hub not to be taken lightly. Its evolution over the years has led to it becoming one of the strongest economies in the continent, and as a result its currency has seen some pretty impressive progress over the years. The Malaysian Ringgit has become a powerful currency, and with more tourists flocking, in every year, things are looking up for the currency and the country. This is how it evolved over the years.
Early days
The Ringgit was known as the Malaysian dollar when it first came out in the late fifties. It had several bills when it first came to life, but the 1000 bill came out almost a decade after the currency started coming into circulation. Back at that time, in the early 60s, 1 Malaysian Ringgit equaled 0.12 GBP. In the mid-seventies, the Malaysian dollar was officially recognized as the Ringgit, and things started falling into place since then. Some changes with bill denominations happened over the next few years, but none affected the currency in a noticeable way.
Asian financial crisis of the late 90s
In the late 90s, the Asian financial crisis hit Malaysia, and the currency was affected by it like most countries in the region, and it suffered for it. The rates were down, and if you looked up the MYR to GBP exchange rate back then, you’d find that the Malaysian Ringgit hit its lowest at that time. This, in turn, reflected in the economy of the country and how well the currency was doing at the time. Some bills actually were discontinued back then, and things were barely going.
The early 2000s
In the early 2000s, Bank Negara issued a new RM10 bill, which even had more security precautions than most previous bills. Some coins were also taken out of commission soon after that and they were not in circulation anymore. Since then, it has been a continuous struggle and effort to keep the Ringgit alive and competing with other currencies, especially in a region with many booming economies coming to life and making a maximum effort as well to stay ahead of the competition.
Things are looking good for the Malaysian Ringgit, and the numbers show that it might be facing a certain surge over the next few months. For the rest of 2019, the forecast shows that the RM will go up by a few points, than its previous recorded numbers for this year.
It’s definitely shaping up to be quite the year for the Malaysian Ringgit, and it does make sense. With the country, making efforts to boost tourism and increase its competitiveness in several markets, the Ringgit should definitely be on the rise for the next few months. And there’s no telling how high it could soar in the early months of 2020, but the signs are definitely good.