With the depreciation of the Malaysia Ringgit, there will be excellent & harmful impacts on Malaysians. The cost of imported goods will increase as a result of weaker Ringgit & if you are buying imported goods, you will be paying more than what you used to pay in the past. Exporters that are exporting & selling in USD, are definitely benefitting from it as the goods that they are selling have more increase in their profits due to stronger USD. For consumers, our standard of living will definitely increase due to higher inflation.
Speaking from a consumer’s perspective, there is nothing much we can do in such a situation as we have no control over the currency or our country’s economic situation. But what we can do is, we can control what we can do by taking advantage of such situations.
1. Find Ways To Earn In USD or Other Currencies
For Malaysians that are working in other countries or earning other country currency, you are definitely benefiting from this situation. For those who have a side hustle & currently are paid in other currencies, good for you. If you have neither of that, you can explore side hustle platforms that will allow you to earn in USD such as YouTube, Fiverr, Freelancer & other websites. It is a good time for you to earn in other currencies now.
2. Diversify Your Investment
If you have invested in other foreign investments, you should be less impacted by this situation. Perhaps you have invested in Gold, Mutual Funds, Robo-advisors, ETFs, Index Funds, or other investments that focus on other countries such as the USA, Singapore, or other strong currencies, you are less impacted compared to other Malaysians that invest locally. If you have not done that, you can start to explore simple investment platforms such as StashAway to invest in other foreign investments.
3. Buy Local Goods
Buying Malaysian products can help you to lower the cost of your spending. Due to the depreciation of the Ringgit, the cost of imported goods will definitely increase. Although our Malaysian-made product may also be indirectly impacted by the depreciation of the Ringgit, it will definitely be cheaper than the direct cost of imported goods.
4. Save More & Spend Less
Savings should be a good habit that you should be from the start but if you haven’t started saving your money, you need to start saving now as we won’t know what will happen in the future. You should also start spending less on stuff that you don’t need like the latest iPhone or other luxury items. Be moderate in your spending to ensure that you can save more.
Conclusion:
Many politicians from the opposition are blaming the government for their incompetence in handling the depreciation of the Ringgit. Some Malaysians may agree & some may not. From my personal perspective as a Malaysian, we should give the current government a chance to complete its full terms & this is a good time for them to prove to the voters whether they deserve our vote or not in the future. We have many foreign investors coming into Malaysia to invest & this will help to grow our current economy in the near future. We will have to wait & see how can the current government grow our country’s economy. Meanwhile, as Malaysian, we should also do our part & focus on what we can control by taking those simple 4 steps & I assure you that, you can definitely survive this whole situation.
OSS!
You can also check out my latest YouTube video on Why Do You Need Financial Planning?
