At 6pm, the local currency improved by 20 basis points to 4.6360/4.6390 against the greenback from yesterday’s closing of 4.6380/4.6425.

The analyst said the buying support for the ringgit is on the expectation that the government will address the country’s fiscal deficit in the Budget 2023 announcement next week, with the government possibly targeting a fiscal deficit of 4.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) next year versus 5.5% this year.

“The steady benchmark crude oil price at US$89.23 per barrel, rising 0.84%, also supported the ringgit’s performance today,” the analyst said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly easier against a basket of major currencies.

The local currency slipped against the British pound to 5.1728/5.1762 from 5.0392/5.0441 yesterday and declined versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2343/3.2368 from 3.2228/3.2264.

It depreciated against the Japanese yen at 3.2103/3.2126 from 3.2050/3.2084 at yesterday’s closing and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5428/4.5458 from yesterday’s 4.4951/4.4995.