DEPUTY Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan said the ringgit’s value versus the US dollar should not be solely used to gauge the state of the economy. 

He said it was unfair that analysts assessed the economic situation merely based on this yardstick because other criteria should also be considered. 

“Firstly, there is our economic growth, which is forecast at 4%-5% next year. The second gauge is the country’s fiscal deficit which is set to fall to 4.3% (next year) from 5% this year. Thirdly, the inflation rate has continued to decline to 1.9% (in September),” he added.  

Ahmad pointed out the government’s efforts to keep the unemployment rate low at 3.4% and ensure the Overnight Policy Rate remained at 3%, as announced by Bank Negara Malaysia on Thursday. 

“These are the real indicators. Moreover, the level of investments announced for the first half of this year is high. All these show our economy is on solid footing with strong fundamentals,” he said. 

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry announced in September that the country recorded RM132.6 billion worth of approved investments in the first six months of 2023. 

Ahmad reminded critics to look at key economic measurements. 

“It is not fair to refer only to the ringgit-US dollar (exchange rate),” he said. – Bernama, November 4, 2023.