If Japan was not forced to appreciate its yen by the US in the Plaza Accord, many of their top companies would still be on top of the world, instead of losing to Korean competitors and even China.

That's why when Japan devalues its yen, South Korea also not happy.

South Korean Central Bank Concerned About Yen's Devaluation

Many people like you think strong currency is good because you only think for yourself and not for the whole country.

Back agan to the same concept of purchasing power capability, and the fact tht you are a high-earner. Anothr who earns less wil not be able to save.

China before they went on their export driven growth has a strong currency. Before they opened up, they purposely devalued their currency to gain a competitive edge over other exporting nations.

We nearly went bankrupt because of the strong ringgit back in 1997, not weak ringgit. Back in 1997 when the 1USD=RM2.5, our foreign currency reserves was only around USD15 billion. Why? Because of our strong ringgit, many people sent their children to study overseas, borrowed in foreign currencies and bought a lot of imported goods until we have trade deficits.

Correcion - only countries tht have reached a high threshold of debt to GDP will want to lower weaken ther currency in order to fuel exports. Fueling exports will effect exporting more than imprtng, hence reducing the trade deficit, and perhaps even initiating a trade surplus.

Wth surplus, mor funds wil come back to the country, and the secnd effect is GDP rises. When GDP rises, the ratio of debt to GDP drops, assuming the country does not increase its debt level further or faster.

Well, there you go, you don't hav to spend on transport and food in Qatar. That is where the savings come from. In MY, you have to spend on the two.

Cannot compare like that? If our wan tee mee is still RM2.50 then we would be in really deep shit already by now. You know or not Japan is trying hard to ignite inflation because deflation is far more scary.

No export increases? I guess you must be blind. When our ringgit was strong, we were having trade deficits. Since 1998, we have no trade deficit.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/embed/?s=m...alance-of-trade

Deflation not scary? Better go study economics lah.

Why Deflation Is Worse Than Inflation
Do you even know what our biggest exports are or not? And you talked as if every factory in Malaysia is owned by foreigners.

No benefit from higher exports? How about having jobs and economic growth?

deflation...

bad for biz owners
bad for bursa stockholders
bad for property speculators
bad for tax collectors
bad for gomen wastage/songlap

good for small fella with stagnant wages (already stagnant in high inflationary environment)
good for retirees, housewives, civil servants (job salary/pension guaranteed) as prices will drop
good for locals as foreign workers will go home
no change for debt holders

so... good for supersound, good for me. can't say for artus and others.

This is the problem when you don't have facts. Indonesia got 1 trillion from us? What nonsense are you talking about?

i m not worried about my job.

that's why i can't say that for u n others.

You know how to count or not?

Indonesian workers in Malaysia remitted almost $1.2 billion back home in 2012

Indonesian workers where got so much money (USD300 billion) to remit home? Talk nonsense lah you.

today noon, usd1=rm3.650/3.653.

light read, but i doubt a peg is in consideration:

As in like when malaysia's currency drop, their overseas money will not be affected?

MYR 3.7673 now 

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDMYR:CUR

who knows end of the week reach that level 

why so?

would the usd strengthen all the more?

more will abandon rm for the usd. isnt that how it works?

us raise rate, rm gets stronger?

i doubt it. it may stabilize for a while but will continue to decline (assuming no major changes) until the global markets are assured usa will not raise rates anymore.

at this time, the expectation is usa will raise rates once or twice this year and then another once or twice in 2016.

meanwhile, bnm been leaving the rates unchanged meeting after meeting.

merrill lynch's been expecting bnm to cut rates since last year, but they have been proven wrong so far.

indon, oz, south korea, nz all cut rates in the last 6 months - the currencies dived, off course, each time a cut is made.

cutting int rates makes a currency weaker with another currency but the idea is to spur growth, improve employment and production, trade and budget balances so that the currency is in demand again which then allows int rates to be increased to strengthen the currency further - that's what's going on with usa now. if rates stay low and protracted, and economy does not improve, something will give way eventually - a devaluation plus a massive hike in int rates - like what we saw recently in venezuela or ukraine.

interest rate parity does catch up over time.

that is true. big economies can do a lot what small ones cannot. today, only usa, germany and japan can sneeze, others catch a cold.

china and india will rise to the level in time.

small cats can meow, get eaten up by hyenas faster.

no need to , u will only get hurt.

"everybody wants to rule the world".

mathir tried to corner the tin market in 1981, lost billions.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...s-bad-as-najibs

russia's putin may hv tried to corner the gold market in recent years.

saudi is still trying to control crude price, battling shale and getting hurt.
so, u can decide if    is worth it.

it's good, really. that's what free market capitalism is about - lowest cost producer wins, all consumers win.

let oil get to usd10/bbl!

whoever produces something at lowest cost wins - as long as it last.

f those who want to gouge and rob!

now... u get me upset with unifi.

yesssss.. hoping for USD10/barrel 

but Bolehland O&G industry die la 

Is it a good time to change most of my foreign currency now? I.e. My sgd... Got few Thousands in hand...
Or just keep monitoring?

according to news report, Revenue from pilgrims  makes 3% of Saudi GDP.  some about (USD 16.5 billion) yearly
how they calculate   

yeah, tourist attraction.. anothers source of income