But,...in the last budget ann't back in October 2015, the RInggit strengthened after the ann't.. Will the same thing happen again this time,... or will the reverse happen ?

Hi AV,... why did it help the RM when the budget was first announced in October 2015 ?

Yes, the RM did strengthen to around RM3.00 to 1 SGD back during the weekend immediately after he laid out the budget speech on that Friday evening,... I don't remember how much it strengthen to the USD, though,... I remembered it very, very distinctly because I had to break my back running around to a few money-changers to change my RM into the SGD, about RM500K on that Saturday and Sunday.

Yes, the RM did strengthen back then.... Hoping it will do so again this time round,....

Withdrew ard RM300K earlier, put into safe deposit box and then topped-up by withdrawing a further RM200K from ASM on that same Friday evening. Converted everything at money-changers on the following Saturday.

That's right - the window to convert will be very small. Therefore must get hold of our funds quickly and then convert over quickly before the RM weakens again. Only question now is : will the RM strengthen again for awhile ?

Well,.. nobody will notice since we don't do it all the time. Went with friends, after changing from one money-changer, brought to the car, drove off to the safe dep box company, and repeated this cycle until all changed. Ladies are even more unnoticeable.

Again, bring in batches and with friends.

One possibility is when foreign investors view some moves made by the MY Gov't is appealing to foreign investors, after which they will buy the RM. We don't really know how they think. In the previous budget ann't, this was what happened. Back then, oil price was already dropping, there were talks of Feds hike, and some prbs seen in the Chinese economy. The RM strengthened after the budget speech.

Wrong, bro,... savings in exchange rates always outweighs transport charges for such sums. And I always have somewhere to go, or something to do, or someone to visit when I am there. It;s like going home for me,... so, no issues there.

This is only true if the Feds are right, and the economic numbers coming out from the US justifies more hikes down the road. IF the Feds suddenly decides to reverse rates, then everything goes in the opposite.

The US economy depend, to a certain extent, on world economy too. With China throwing-in a spanner into the 'gearbox' in the first trading week of the year, the world has slowed down badly. Can't really tell what will happen from now....

Why do you say this ? So far in 2016, I am not seeing anything beneficial to the rest of the world with China slowdown.

Low fuel price should translate into cheaper charges for transportation. Has anybody seen cheaper flight tickets around, whether from budget carriers, or from full-service carriers ?

Thank you to all forummers for your responses,... thank you. It is good that we continue to dialogue now, for in times like this, engaging in dialogues will shape our thinking and thought patterns in directions that we can gain advantage from.

Seeing the responses that I got about falling petrol prices, I am now even more reinforced into thinking that in Msia, when prices go up, they will never drop again. We, the consumers, should never let prices incarese in the first place.

The thinking that when prices drop, 'more profit for me' is very true.

As for benefits to the world when China slowsdown and devalues the RMB, I am really doubtful that it takes time for the effects to trickle through. When times do turn around later on, I would say that it is a combination of actions around that world that caused the turnaround, and not because of the Chinese slowdown.

One can always argue that it's because of the structural reforms in China that brought about the slowdown, and such reforms are good for everybody at the end of the day, it's really unfathomable for one to visualize this.

I am glad I have cleared all my debts,... debtfree now, leaving ALL my funds (= my bullets) ready to capitalize on this selldown. It is always good to clear your loans, you never know when the interest rate will go up.

Well,... guessed that I am not too keen to know the mechanics behind the pricing of jetfuel,.. all I needed to know is I am still not saving any funds in my flights to SG and to the USA.

Sorry can't help it,...cooking oil from crude oil

What scares me is that I heard from speakers now and then that though the numbers say the Chinese economy is bad now, but in actual fact the service industry in China is actually booming, which means... China is NOT really dependant on producing goods anymore. They are slowly moving from a manufacturing-led economy to higher levels and higher value-add industries, eg Singapore.

So, for investors waiting for China to come back will never see this happening because the numbers coming out from China will never improve anymore. Why ? Because the numbers that we see coming out from China are actually numbers based on the manufacturing activities, which have long dominated China's performance. Investors worldwide will be misled.

And then, if China moves on into a service-led economy, prices of commodities will NEVER go back up again because China will never need to import too much of such commodities anymore. Perhaps another lower-cost country will take-up the slack to be the world's factory, but till now, I don't see any country that has the capability to replace China as a world consumer of commodities.

If the above is the new reality, then Australia and other EM countries which depended a lot upon commodity pricings will be in big trouble.

A 'visible' target would be one day after the Budget Revision Day, January 29th., Friday. Otherwise, you gotta watch closely everyday and quickly convert when the RM suddenly strengthens.

Guessed I am not the type who will just sit down and say we are doomed,....I prefer to say there is always a way out,... We just have to find it !!

1) Mr Mackel is contradicting himself when he commented in the following ways :-

a) He said the local unit was expected to be relatively stable at 4.40 against the US dollar,...

b) However, against the emerging market currencies, it would post a stronger performance, he said.

2) I would agree with Mr Mackel when he commented that in the previous four Fed rate hikes, there were times when the USD weakened in a general sense,... BUT to us in Msia,... the USD has generally strengthened against our MYR during hikes, be it from the USD strengthening against us, though weakening against other currencies, OR; our MYR weakening against the USD. The nett effect is the same.

In order to catch-up with the USD, our BNM has to raise the OPR. But this time, can they raise the OPR ??????

3) Either way, there is still a risk against purchasing the USD, not only for us Msians, but also for other nationalities of the world,... after what happened in the subprime crisis of 2008/9. Hence, we must select a currency for which there is a higher chance to appreciate against the MYR, the USD, and against many other currencies of the world, and invest into that currency. Or, another way would be to load-up on as many types of currencies as possible and diversify out our holdings.

...hopefully the MYR strengthens on Friday, Jan 29th.... Then convert !!!!!!!!!!