The most bearish forecaster still expects the local note to average 4.70 next year, wrote The Edge Malaysia editor Cindy Yeap in the publication’s cover story 'Living with a Weaker Ringgit' for the week of Nov 21-Nov 27, 2016. Straight up, a weaker ringgit would make imported medicine more expensive and reduce the number of Malaysians who can afford to seek higher education outside Malaysia. A rough calculation, the weekly wrote, shows a four-year undergraduate course in Australia today can be double that seen in 1986, no thank to higher cost of living and yes, the weaker ringgit against the Aussie dollar. “The divergence in the value of the ringgit versus the Singapore dollar can be explained by the higher income and productivity levels in Singapore. Let's not forget also that not all local exporters enjoy the “very short-term” benefit of a weaker ringgit.

Source: The Edge Markets November 19, 2016 05:06 UTC