The ringgit opened flat against the U.S. dollartoday , ahead of the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for this week, although safe-haven demand for the greenback remains strong, an analyst said.
The local currency traded at 4.4060/4100 against the dollar at 9am, compared with 4.4060/4085 at Friday's close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to stabilize at around RM4.40 today.
"The possibility of a hike in the overnight policy rate (OPR) this week is likely to maintain the value of the ringgit.
"The current negative real interest rate may prompt BNM to raise the OPR to incentivize savers to bank their savings and avoid excessive risk-taking," he told Bernama.
However, Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, believes that continued global growth concerns could dampen enthusiasm for the ringgit.
"In an environment of slowing global growth, emerging market currencies, especially commodity exporters, tend to weaken in the early stages of a downturn," he said.
The ringgit was lower against a basket of major currencies except the Singapore dollar.
The local currency fell to 5.3326/3374 against the pound, after closing at 5.3163/3193 on Friday, against the yen to 3.2644/2676 from 3.2483/2504 earlier and to 4.5963/6005 against the euro.4.5060/6086.
However, it rose to 3.1550/1583 against the Singapore dollar from 3.1596/1618 on Friday.
