KUALA LUMPUR: There will be no drastic decision from the government in response to the weakening ringgit and market volatility, according to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
The government, he said, would leave the management of the monetary policy to Bank Negara Malaysia because "politicians have a very short-term focus".
Rafizi, however, said the next National Economic Action Council meeting would be held on June 12 to conduct "general discussions" on the economy, apart from structural reforms.
He said the ministry would wait for Bank Negara to make any decision and would exchange views as the central bank "is the best avenue to discuss monetary policy.
"More often than not, we hope our monetary policy will not be haphazard in the short term," he told the media after launching Affin Conference Series 2023 here yesterday.
When asked about pegging the ringgit to the US dollar, Rafizi said there had not been any discussion thus far relating to a currency peg.
"When it comes to monetary policy, as much as possible in consultation with the government, the central bank has its independence and objectivity to decide because politicians usually have a very short-term focus.
He stressed that the essence of monetary policy focused on long-term strategies, fundamentals and comparisons to how the country was doing as an economy with other economies.
"When you plan on monetary policy, it has to take a long-term view and I want to respect that, regardless of what people say and hammer us on," he added.
The ringgit is approaching historic lows after a recent gain following Bank Negara's decision to raise its overnight policy rate on May 3.
The move initially helped the ringgit gain 0.3 per cent against the dollar, but the positive effect was shortlived as two weeks later, it lost more than one per cent and hit a six-month low of 4.6280 in early trade last Friday.
As at 4pm, the ringgit was traded at 4.6132.
On Monday, Rafizi reportedly said the government had not planned to revise Malaysia's economic growth forecast this year despite the depreciation of the ringgit.
He said the ringgit depreciation over the past two weeks was largely influenced by discussions on the United States debt ceiling which had affected market sentiment.
Affin Conference Series 2023 gathers industry players and policy makers to highlight the Malaysian economic prospects and issues, as well as strategies and measures from the 2023 Budget.
It is also aimed at highlighting the government's initiatives to transform the country and achieve a strong and sustainable economic growth.