Money matters: A moneychanger attending to a customer near a sign indicating the exchange rate for US dollar at an outlet in Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: The weakening of the US dollar in the past few days has stirred up demand for the currency, but now moneychangers are caught in a dilemma.
They have either run out of the notes or are holding on to their greenback as they do not want to incur huge losses due to the sharp drop from RM4.73 to RM4.43 to the dollar in just three days.
A moneychanger, who wanted to be known only as Mohamed, said he had run out of American notes in the past three days.
“I get about 10 to 15 enquiries per day from locals who want to purchase US dollars,” he said, adding that his outlet here mainly changed Singapore dollars, with the US currency making up a small number of daily transactions.
He said most of the notes exchanged at his outlet were the ones brought in by foreigners while holidaying in Johor.
“If people want to make huge purchases of the US dollar, we will be happy to help them, but they will need to provide their details as per Bank Negara’s requirements,” he said, adding that talk was rife that the US dollar would continue to slide.
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Another moneychanger known as Tan said some of his peers were holding on to their greenback as they would incur huge losses in a short period of time.
“Many of us purchased the notes at RM4.73. I lose money each time I sell at RM4.41,” he said, adding that some of the smaller moneychangers who needed ringgit for their operations might sell their notes at a loss.“There has been a slowdown when it comes to purchasing US dollars since the Covid-19 pandemic four years ago.
“So far, there have been no major issues as moneychangers are still willing to change dollars in small amounts.
“People are also expecting the greenback to continue to slide, so that will be a challenge for moneychangers to stock up on the notes,” he said, adding that US dollars made up a small portion of his daily transactions.
Asked about the Singapore dollar and Japanese yen, he said there had been good demand for the Singapore currency, with people expecting it to go up further.
“As for the yen, demand has dropped as it’s only up during the holiday season.
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“During the holidays, we can change up to RM30,000, but that has now dropped to about RM5,000 per day,” Tan said, adding that the present tension in the Middle East, the Ukraine-Russian war and other factors were fuelling volatility in the currency market.
Meanwhile, a customer known as Siva said he went to a few outlets around the city just to buy some US dollars for his upcoming holiday.
“Luckily, there are many moneychangers in the city and I finally managed to buy the amount I wanted, though in small amounts at a few outlets,” he added.
