PETALING JAYA: Interest rate hike will resolve the depreciation of ringgit but the move also increases lenders’ burden, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary Chan Ming Kai during his visit to Sin Chew Daily headquarters in Petaling Jaya on Monday.

Chan refutes claims that the Malaysian government does not act on the depreciation of ringgit.

An increase in the interest rate will solve the issue, but this will not be in favor of people at large, he said.

“The issue now is not about the depreciation of ringgit but a drastic rate hike by the United States.

“The move by the US has impacted the global economy. In fact, the currencies of most countries have depreciated.

“The question lies with the reality that the currencies of some countries depreciate more than the others.”

When compared with Singapore dollar, the ringgit depreciates more.

“Our figures on unemployment, inflation and investment are all doing well. The only thing is that we do not increase interest rates causing the ringgit to depreciate. This is a global issue.

“If we were to increase interest rates, lenders would be making noise,” he said.

Chan defended the government that it has done what is appropriate.

Apart from affecting imports, most of our debt is settled in ringgit, he said.

On February 21, the ringgit slumped to a low of RM4.8053 against a strengthening US dollar and RM3.5757 against Singapore dollar.