Ringgit boleh, rupiah frays: Divergent Asean currencies to hold steady in 2026 amid greenback blues

[SINGAPORE] After a year of sharp contrasts that saw the ringgit charting a winning streak while the dong, peso and rupiah clocked one fresh low after another, South-east Asia’s currency majors look set to weather 2026 well – thanks to a softening US dollar and, for some, a steady renminbi.

Next year’s top regional outperformer is no surprise: the ringgit had the most votes of confidence from economists The Business Times spoke with, as it ends the year boasting an 8 per cent gain to date against the world’s reserve currency.

Once the worst performer in emerging Asia two years ago, the ringgit strengthened from 4.473 per US dollar at the start of the year to some 4.1 currently. Forecasts expect it to end next year just shy of the psychologically key threshold of four.