Money changers see surge in demand for ringgit

Consumer demand for the Malaysian ringgit rose yesterday as the Singapore dollar continued strengthening against regional currencies, and queues were spotted at money changers in the afternoon.

The Singapore dollar was at a record high of RM3.1984 by 3.30pm yesterday, after starting the year at RM3.0857. This prompted queues at money changers as Singaporeans prepare for their upcoming travels.

Nearly every money changer at The Arcade in Raffles Place saw queues of 10 to 15 people.

Mr Barakath Ali, managing director of Aramex International Exchange in High Street, said he expects the high demand for the ringgit to prevail as the currency continues to weaken against the Singapore dollar and as people are keen to go to Malaysia to shop. "It is helping the recovery in the money-changing industry, although business is still not back to pre-Covid-19 levels," he said.

Mr Nabeel Ghaffar, chief executive of Exchange International, a wholesaler of currencies, said the Thai baht, Japanese yen, Indonesian rupiah and Vietnamese dong are also in demand as travel resumes in the region. "No matter what the price is, people just want to get out and travel," he said.

Mr Abdul Haleem, a partner at City Money Changers at The Arcade, said it is the time of year rather than the rates that draws people to change money. "A few weeks ago, many were buying ringgit for the Labour Day weekend. We will see more people buying ringgit in June, when the school holidays come."

Crown Exchange finance manager Kizher Shajahan Mohamed Ismeth said he has noticed more people buying ringgit in the past two weeks. "Most of our customers are buying to go back to Malaysia, and not really stocking up because they cannot predict whether the rate will fall or rise. The Covid-19 situation is very volatile."

Most customers The Straits Times spoke to said they were buying ringgit to travel to Malaysia.

Madam Xylia Kong, 54, a trade support executive, said she plans to go to Johor Bahru around two weeks later.

Broker John Lau, 30, said he was buying ringgit for his upcoming trip, rather than for investment.

Ms Salmina Jaafar, a 59-year-old housewife who was in a queue of about 16 people at ARJ money changer at Lot One mall, said: "(The exchange rate) is good for me because this means that I can buy groceries in Malaysia at a lower price than in Singapore."

 • Additional reporting by Jocelyn Teo and See Yi Ro