Whether it’s for good food or bargain shopping, Singaporeans love their weekend getaways to Johor Bahru.
For those who would make the (sometimes) arduous journey for a butter-filled coffee bun, a midnight snack, or just to hoard jars of Chinese New Year goodies, here’s another reason for you to head across the causeway soon: the Singapore dollar is now at an all-time high against the Malaysia ringgit, at a rate of 1 Singapore dollar to 3.53 ringgit.
All-Time-High Rate of 1 SGD to 3.53 Ringgit
Tracing back to the 1970s, the Singapore dollar and ringgit were actually once on par.
Since then, the Singapore dollar has only been growing stronger, hitting exchange rate milestones of about 3.0 at the start of 2020, to highs of 3.17 in April 2022.
It only gets better. The exchange rate surged even higher to 3.50 in October 2023, and last December, it reached the all-time-high rate of 3.53 but didn’t last long.
And now, it’s back to 3.53.
Yes, the SGD $1 that can’t even get you a cup of kopi in Singapore, can be exchanged for that much ringgit in Malaysia!
For those who are curious, the steady strengthening of the Singapore dollar has been caused by a few recent headliner events, including the weakening of Malaysian exports with the US.
Simply put, Malaysia specialises in producing and exporting electronic goods. And because global demand for those goods is slowing, there is less demand for the Malaysian exports, and the Malaysian ringgit weakens.
The corresponding blow to Malaysia’s GDP growth due to weakening exports is far from the only cause of the currency’s depreciation. There are other factors, such as Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to pause interest-rate hikes in July and a Cabinet reshuffle that saw a new finance minister.