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PRIME MINISTER Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed his gratitude as the Malaysian ringgit strengthened against the US dollar, reaching its highest level in more than seven years.
“Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, okey,” he said briefly when asked about the local currency’s performance, following the ringgit’s climb to 3.9992 per dollar on Friday, just below the psychological 4.00 mark.
The last time the ringgit traded at similar levels was on 18 June 2018, when it reached 3.9960/3.9990.
The ringgit has also appreciated against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5337/5361 from 2.5637/5670, against the euro to 4.6993/7034 from 4.7076/7134, and against the British pound to 5.4177/4224 from 5.4332/4399.
Regionally, the currency gained ground against other ASEAN currencies, including the Thai baht at 12.8362/8544 from 12.9115/9332, the Singapore dollar at 3.1302/1330 from 3.1479/1521, the Indonesian rupiah at 238.0/238.3 from 240.1/240.5, and the Philippine peso at 6.77/6.78 from 6.83/6.84.
Speaking at the 120th anniversary of the National Audit Department, Anwar called on the department to engage more closely with the public to ensure the auditing system is viewed as beneficial rather than burdensome.
“We do not want the public to assume that the audit system is burdensome. Therefore, it must be explained as a key step for improvement,” he said.
“If we want this country to progress, the audit system must be more effective, efficient, transparent and beneficial to the people.
“This requires the entire department to engage more closely, to understand and to reach out to the public. Sometimes, we see what is known as a gap; a gap between our good aspirations and intentions, and public understanding.
“So, we have to go down to meet the people so that they understand this is a good thing, necessary, and will determine our progress and general acceptance.”
The Prime Minister was accompanied at the event by Speaker of the House of Representatives Tan Sri Johari Abdul, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, and Auditor General Datuk Seri Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi. -January 26, 2026
